THE  BIBLE  AMONG  THE 
NATIONS 


THE  BIBLE  AMONG 
THE  NATIONS 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  GREAT 
TRANSLATIONS 

BY         y/ 

JOHN  WALTER  BEARDSLEE 

PROFESSOR  OF   BIBLICAL  LANGUAGES  AND  LITERATURE   IN  THE   WESTERN 
THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,   HOLLAND,   MICHIGAN 


Hew  hear  we^  every  tnan  in  our  own  language^  wherein  we 
were  born  ?    Acts  2 :  8 


CHICAGO     NEW  YORK     TORONTO 

FLEMING    H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

MDCCCXCIX 


Copyright,  1899 
By  FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Preface 

When  God  gave  his  Word  to  the  world  the  Old 
Testament  was  written  in  Hebrew,  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  Greek.  Neither  of  these  languages  was 
to  remain  in  permanent  use,  even  among  the 
people  who  then  employed  them,  nor  could  they 
fitly  reveal  the  grand  message  of  God  to  other 
nations.  That  Word  must  be  translated  into  dif- 
ferent languages  as  men  went  with  it  among  the 
nations.  How  they  have  done  this  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  chapters  in  the  history  of  Christian 
work. 

In  the  following  pages  an  effort  is  made  to 
gather  up  the  record  of  these  labors,  as  they  relate 
to  some  of  those  translations  which  have  exerted 
the  widest  influence  upon  the  nations  for  whom 
they  were  prepared.  The  one  object  of  the  writer 
is  to  collect  information,  widely  scattered  and 
inaccessible  to  most  readers  who  would  be  glad  to 
know  something  of  this  inspiring  theme.  Nothing 
will  more  profoundly  impress  the  Bible  student 
5 


v^ 


Preface 

than  to  see  how  in  all  ages  and  among  all  people 
Christian  scholarship  has  thus  sought  to  bring 
God's  Word  within  the  comprehension  of  his 
people,  that  they  may  read  for  themselves  the 
wonderful  promises  in  respect  to  their  salvation. 

The  first  article,  although  not  strictly  a  trans- 
lation, is  added  because  of  its  historical  relation 
to  the  general  subject. 

Western  Theological  Seminary, 

Holland,  Mich., 

Feb.  28, 1899. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

The  Samaritan  Pentateuch,     -  -         -       15 

The  Septuagint  Translation,  -         -            29 

The  Syriac  Translation,           -  -         -       55 

The  Vulgate  Translation,  -         -            71 

The  Gothic  Translation,         -  -         -       93 

The  German  Translation,   -  -         -         11 1 

The  English  Translation,        -  -         -     135 

The  Hollandish  Translation,  -         -          173 

The  French  Translations,       -  -         -     207 


Works  Consulted 

Where  the  works  of  foreign  authors  have 
been  translated  the  reference  is  made  to  the 
English  edition,  as  being  more  accessible.  To 
shorten  the  notes  in  the  text  the  author's 
name  is  given,  with  the  page,  leaving  the 
reader  to  find  the  full  title  of  the  work  by 
consulting  this  list. 

Anderson,  C,  Annals  of  the  English  Bible. 

Andover  Review,  Vol.  XVIII. 

Augustine,  On  Christian  Doctrine. 

Bede,  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Bernhardt,  Vulfila,  oder  Gotische  Bibel. 

Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Vols.  V,  XV,  XVI,  XVII. 

Bissel,  E.  C,  The  Historical  Origin  of  the  Bible. 

Bleek,  F.,  An  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament. 

Brandt,  Historie  der  Reformatie. 

Buhl,  F.,  Canon  and  Text  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Cust,  Essays  on  the  Languages  of  the  Bible. 

Cheyne,  T.  K.,  Jewish  Religious  Life  After  the  Exile. 

Condit,  B.,  History  of  the  English  Bible. 

Dabney,  J.  P.,  The  New  Testament  of  Tyndale  (1526). 

Dore,  Old  Bibles. 

Driver,  S.  R.,  Notes  on  Samuel. 

Edinburgh  Review,  October,  1877. 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

Encyclopaedia  of  Missions. 

Eusebius,  Church  History. 

Foulke,  W.,  Defense  of  the  Translation  of  the  Bible. 

Gibson,  M.  D.,  How  the  Codex  Was  Found. 


Works  Consulted 

Gieseler,  Church  History. 

Green,  J.  R.,  History  of  the  English  People. 

Hall,  E.  S.,  Who  Wrote  the  Bible? 

Hatch,  E.,  Essays  in  Biblical  Greek. 

Hebraica,  Vol.  IX. 

Heringa,  Jodocus,  Bijzonderheden  betreffende  de  vervaar- 

diging  van  de  gewone  Nederlandsche  Bijbelvertaling. 
Hill,  J.  H.,  The  Earliest  Life  of  Christ.    (Diatessaron  of 

Tatian.) 
Hinlopen,  Historie  van  de  Nederlandsche  Overzettinge 

des  Bijbels. 
Home,  T.  H.,  An  Introduction  to  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Huet,  B.,  Het  Land  van  Rembrand. 
Josephus,  F.,  Antiquities  of  the  Jews. 
Jerome,  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers. 
Johnson,  F.,  The  Quotations  of  the  New  Testament  from 

the  Old. 
Jonckbloet,  W.  J.  A.,  Geschiedenis  der  Nederlandsche 

Letterkunde. 
Keil,  K.  F.,  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament. 
Lewis,  A.  S.,  The   Four  Gospels  Translated  from  the 

Syriac  Palimpsest. 
Lewis,  J.,  History  of  English  Translations  of  the  Bible. 
Looman,  T.  M.,  Hoe  wij  aan  den  Bibel  zijn  gekomen. 
Marsh,  G.  P.,  The  English  Language  and  its    Early 

Literature. 
Martyr,  Justin,  Address  to  the  Greeks. 
McClintock  and  Strong,  Encyclopaedia. 
Milman,  Latin  Christianity. 
Mombert,  J.  I.,  A  Handbook  of  the  English  Versions  of 

the  Bible. 
Moulton,  W.  F.,  The  History  of  the  English  Bible. 
Mueller,  Max,  The  Science  of  Language,  Vol.  I. 
Murdock,  J.,  Translation  of  the  Syriac  Testament. 
O'Callahan,  Editions  of  the  Holy  Scripture   Printed  in 

America. 
Presbyterian  Review,  Vol.  IV. 

Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Review,  Vols.  VII  and  VIII. 
Pettigrew,  T.  J.,  Bibliotheca  Sussexiana. 
Reuss,  E,,  History  of  the  New  Testament. 
Rice,  Our  Sixty-six  Sacred  Books. 
Riggenbach,  E.,  Die  Schweizerische,  Revidierte  Ueber- 

setzung  des  Neuen  Testamentes  und  der  Psalmen. 

10 


Works  Consulted 

Robinson's  Researches  in  Palestine. 

Ryle,  H.  E.,  The  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Salmond,  G.,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament. 

Schaff,  P.,  Companion  to  the  Greek  Testament. 

Schaff,  P.,  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Schaff- Herzog,  Encyclopaedia. 

Schrivener,  F.  H.,  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the 
New  Testament. 

Schiirer,  E.,  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ. 

Shea,  J.  G.,  A  Bibliographical  Account  of  Catholic  Bibles 
in  America. 

Smith,  W.,  Bible  Dictionary. 

Socrates,  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Sozomon,  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Stam,  Ulfilas  (By  Heyne). 

Stanley,  A.  P.,  History  of  the  Jewish  Church. 

Theodoret,  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Thorpe,  B.,  The  Anglo-Saxon  Gospels. 

Townley,  J.,  Illustrations  of  Biblical  Literature. 

Toy,  C.  H.,  Quotations  in  the  New  Testament. 

Turner,  S.,  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 

Uppstrom,  Codex  Argenteus,  sive  Sacrorum  Evan- 
geliorum  Versionis  Gothice. 

Van  Prinsterer,  Handbook  of  Dutch  Literature. 

Ward,  T.,  Errata  of  the  Protestant  Bible. 

Weiss,  B.,  A  Manual  of  Introduction  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

Westcott,  B.  F.,  The  Bible  in  the  Church. 

Westcott  and  Hort,  Greek  Testament,  Vol.  II. 

Whitney,  W.  D.,  Language  and  the  Study  of  Language. 

Wilkinson,  Four  Lectures  on  the  Early  History  of  the 
New  Testament. 

Wynne,  Faderland's  History. 

Ypeij  en  Dermout,  Gescheidenis  der  Nederlandsche 
Hervormde  Kerk. 


II 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

Among  the  documents  handed  down  from 
antiquity  bearing  directly  upon  the  text  of 
the  Old  Testament,  none  has  greater  interest 
than  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  This  is  a 
copy  of  the  first  five  books  of  our  Hebrew 
Bible,  with  such  variations  as  have  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Samaritans,  who  accept  it  as 
the  only  book  of  divine  authority.  It  is  writ- 
ten in  the  ancient  form  of  letters  known  as 
** Hebrew  writing,"  or  that  style  of  writing 
popularly  said  to  have  been  in  use  among  the 
Jews  previous  to  the  time  of  Ezra.  It  has  no 
vowels  or  diacritical  marks,  except  that  the 
words  are  separated  from  each  other  by  a  dot, 
and  the  end  of  the  verse  is  marked  by  two 
dots,  or  by  an  asterisk. 

A  copy  of  this  is  still  preserved  at  Nablus — 
Neapolis  of  the  Roman  age — which  claims  to 
have  been  written  by  the  great-grandson  of 
Aaron  "in  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  taking 
possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan  by  the  chil- 
15 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

dren  of  Israel."  While  no  credence  can  be 
given  to  such  a  claim,  it  is  doubtless  one  of 
the  oldest,  possibly  the  oldest,  copy  of  the 
text  of  the  Pentateuch  now  in  existence. 
Another  ancient  copy,  written  in  1232  A.  D., 
is  described  in  ''Hebraica,"  Vol.  IX,  216. 

The  very  existence  of  such  a  document  is 
deeply  significant.  It  is  certain  that  the  hos- 
tile relations  existing  between  the  Jews  and 
the  Samaritans  from  the  days  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  would  prevent  their  receiving  it 
since  that  time.  Side  by  side  the  two  books, 
so  nearly  alike,  so  manifestly  having  a  com- 
mon origin,  have  remained  for  many  centuries, 
yet  neither  shows  any  sign  of  being  in  any  way 
influenced  by  the  other.  Certainly  such  a 
document  ought  to  become  a  very  valuable 
witness  concerning  the  Pentateuch  as  we  pos- 
sess it. 

I.       ITS   ORIGIN 

How  came  the  Samaritans  to  possess  the 
Pentateuch,  and  recognize  it  as  divine,  while 
they  persistently  refuse  to  recognize  any  other 
part  of  our  Hebrew  Bible? 

The  origin  of  the  Samaritan  Colony  is  given 
in  2  Kings,  xvii.  In  720  B.  C.  the  king  of 
16 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

Assyria  carried  Israel  into  captivity.  The 
country,  thus  stripped  of  its  inhabitants,  was 
left  desolate  until  Ezar-Haddon  ** brought 
men  from  Babylon,  and  from  Cuthah,  and 
from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from 
Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them  in  the  cities  of 
Samaria  instead  of  the  children  of  Israel."^ 
It  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been  largely  of 
heathen  origin.  It  certainly  was  in  a  very 
peculiar  religious  condition  at  the  beginning. 
In  2  Kings,  xvii,  28-41,  we  are  told  how  they 
tried  to  unite  the  worship  of  the  god  of  the 
land  with  their  own  heathen  customs.  In 
response  to  their  request,  the  king  sent  one  of 
the  Jewish  priests,  who  had  been  carried  away 
among  the  captives,  to  dwell  among  them,  and 
teach  them  the  manner  of  the  god  of  the  land. 
The  result  was,  ^'the  people  feared  Jehovah, 
and  served  their  own  gods."^ 

It  was  not  until  about  432  B.  C.  that  reli- 
gious matters  began  to  assume  a  more  settled 
form  among  the  Samaritans.  At  that  time 
Manasseh,  a  brother,  or  perhaps  a  grandson, 
of  Jaddua,  the  high  priest  at  Jerusalem,  hav- 
ing married  the  daughter  of  Sanballat,   gov- 

*  2  Kings,  17:24;  see  also  Ezra,  iv,  2. 
»  2  Kings,  17:33- 

17 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ernor  of  Samaria,  and  in  consequence  having 
been  driven  from  the  priesthood  at  Jerusalem* 
took  refuge  in  Samaria.  According  to 
Josephus^  Sanballat  obtained  from  Alexander 
the  Great  permission  to  build  a  temple  on  Mt. 
Gerizim,  in  which  he  constituted  Manasseh 
high  priest.  To  this  temple  came  many 
priests  when  deprived  of  their  office  among  the 
Jews,  and  thus  the  Pentateuch  was  introduced 
as  the  basis  of  their  system  of  worship.  It  is 
altogether  likely  the  temple  was  built  about  a 
century  earlier  than  Josephus  mentions,  but 
the  other  statements  seem  well  estabHshed.^ 

Three  dates  thus  become  possible  when  the 
Pentateuch  might  have  been  carried  into 
Samaria: 

1.  It  may  have  remained  in  the  land  when 
the  Israelites  were  carried  into  captivity,  a 
relic  of  the  days  when  the  true  God  was  wor- 
shiped. The  heathen  settlers  introduced  by 
the  Assyrian  king  would,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  time,  think  it  necessary  to 
respect  the  god  of  the  land  into  which  they 
had  come. 

2.  It  might  have  been  taken  by  the  priest 

»Neh.,  13:28. 

^Antiquities,  II,  7,  2,  and  II.  8.  2. 

'Robinson's  Researches,  III,  117;  Ryle,  Canon,  92. 

18 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

sent  by  the  Assyrian  king  in  response  to  the 
request  of  the  people.'  But  from  the  ming- 
ling of  true  and  idolatrous  customs  tolerated 
at  that  time,  it  would  not  seem  that  the  Law- 
was  much  sought  after,  and  besides,  the  wor- 
ship then  conducted  was  at  Bethel,  and  not  at 
Mt.  Gerizim.  Professor  Karl  Budde,  of  Stras- 
burg,  in  his  recent  lectures  in  America  (1898) 
seems  to  favor  this  idea. 

3.  It  might  have  been  carried  to  them  by 
the  fugitive  priest,  Manasseh,  when  driven 
from  Jerusalem  by  Nehemiah  because  he 
had  married  the  daughter  of  Sanballat.'^ 
Notwithstanding  his  sin,  Manasseh  was  care- 
ful of  the  Law,  and  from  this  time  we  can 
clearly  trace  not  only  its  presence,  but  its 
recognized  influence  in  Samaria.  He  proved 
a  true  reformer  among  them.  It  was  appar- 
ently through  his  influence  that  the  temple  on 
Mt.  Gerizim  was  erected  and  the  ritual  services 
centered  there,  his  pattern  being  the  temple 
and  the  service  at  Jerusalem.  He  was  thus 
able  to  arouse  an  enthusiasm  for  the  service 
which  became  a  permanent  feature  of  the 
Samaritan  life.^ 

*  2  Kings,  17:27. 
«Neh.,  13:28. 

'  Ryle,  Canon,  92;  Stanley,  III,  159;  Cheyne,  Jewish  Life,  31. 
.19 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

The  fact  that  it  is  written  in  the  ancient 
characters  used  among  the  Jews  before  the 
captivity  would  seem  to  favor  an  early  intro- 
duction. If  at  any  later  date  the  Samaritans 
had  gone  to  the  Jews  for  religious  books,  they 
would  hardly  have  been  satisfied  with  the 
Law,  but  would  have  taken  also  those  other 
books  which  had  grown  out  of  the  Law. 
Besides,  the  bitter  enmity  existing  between 
the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  at  any  later 
period  would  have  prevented  them  from  going 
to  the  Jews  for  anything.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  ancient  Samaritans  were  made  up  partly 
of  Jews  and  partly  of  foreigners  who  possessed 
the  narrow  ideas  in  regard  to  religion  common 
in  those  days,  we  can  see  a  reason  for  their 
seeking  assistance  from  those  who  had  occu- 
pied the  land  before  them.^ 

This  seems  also  to  explain  what  Josephus 
says^  about  the  character  of  this  mixed  popu- 
lation. He  tells  us  that  when  it  would  be  an 
advantage  to  them  to  claim  kinship  with  the 
Jews,  they  said  they  were  descended  from 
Joseph;  but  when  the  Jews  were  in  trouble, 
and  they  wished  to  avoid  all  responsibility  or 

^McClintock  and  Strong,  IX,  296. 
^Antiquities,  IX,  14,  3,  and  II,  8,  6. 
20 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

obligation  to  befriend  them,  they  said  they 
were  sojourners  in  the  land  whose  home  was 
in  Persia.* 

II.       ITS   CHARACTER 

When  the  first  copy  of  this  Samaritan  Pen- 
tateuch was  brought  to  Europe,  in  1616 
A.D.,  by  Pietro  della  Valle,  it  attracted  great 
attention  among  scholars.  Morinus,  a  leading 
Roman  Catholic  scholar,  claimed  it  was  supe- 
rior to  the  text  of  our  Hebrew  Bible.  It  was 
found  to  have  many  readings  in  common  with 
the  Septuagint  where  that  version  differs  from 
the  original.  All  this  created  discussion,  and 
many  boldly  demanded  that  our  Hebrew  text 
ought  to  be  revised  on  the  basis  of  this  Samar- 
itan Pentateuch.  One  of  the  great  battles  of 
textual  criticism  was  fought  over  this  issue. 

But  in  18 1 5  Gesenius,  the  author  of  our 
Hebrew  Lexicon,  and  one  of  the  greatest  of 
Hebrew  scholars,  gave  the  matter  a  careful 
study,  and  settled  the  question  in  favor  of  our 
regular  text.  He  proves  very  clearly  that  the 
variations  between  the  Samaritan  and  the 
Hebrew  texts  may  be  traced  to  causes  which 
show  that  the  changes  have  been  made  in  the 

^Schurer,  Jewish  People,  II,  i,  5- 
21 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Samaritan,  and  not  in  the  Hebrew.  He  gives 
eight  classes  of  variations,  which  we  may  again 
condense  into  three: 

1.  Such  as  arise  from  blunders  in  copying, 
supplying  quiescent  letters,  regular  for  irregu- 
lar forms  of  words,  adding  paragogical  letters, 
etc. 

2.  Variations  caused  by  the  desire  to  con- 
form certain  passages  to  the  Samaritan  mode 
of  thought,  as  chronological  changes,  the 
substitution  of  Mt.  Gerizim  for  Jerusalem, 
etc. 

3.  Variations  caused  by  an  attempt  to 
remove  supposed  obscurities  in  the  text.^ 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  variations  are 
of  little  consequence,  and  tell  against  the 
Samaritan. 

It  is  not  in  its  variations,  but  in  its  substan- 
tial agreement  with  our  text,  that  we  place 
its  value.  After  all  the  reasons  for  a  differ- 
ence are  presented,  the  fact  remains  that  they 
are  substantially  one. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  the  fre- 
quent agreement  between  this  Samaritan  Pen- 
tateuch and  the  Septuagint  where  they  differ 
from  our  Hebrew  text.      How   is  it  that  the 

'3mith's  Bible  Die,  2805. 

?3 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

Samaritan  and  the  Septuagint  should  thus 
agree  against  the  Hebrew?  Some  say  the 
Septuagint  translators  used  the  Samaritan  text 
in  trnanslating;  others  think  the  Samaritan 
was  corrected  so  as  to  conform  to  the  Septu- 
agint after  it  appeared ;  others  still  think  that 
both  the  Samaritan  and  the  Septuagint  were 
based  on  Hebrew  manuscripts  which  had  the 
usual  variations  common  to  all  hand-written 
documents. 

That  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  a  mere  attempt  to  secure  uniformity  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  that  they  disagree  more  fre- 
quently than  they  agree,  while  in  neither  their 
agreement  or  disagreement  is  there  any  system. 
It  is  far  more  likely  in  either  case  to  have 
arisen  from  the  imperfect  work  of  the  scribe. 

III.      ITS   DIFFERENT  VERSIONS 

Just  as  the  Jews  after  the  exile  required  an 
Aramaic  version  in  the  Synagogue  service,  so 
the  Samaritans  had  a  popular  version.  In 
daily  life  they  used  a  mixture  of  Hebrew, 
Aramaic,  and  Syriac,  which  differed  in  many 
respects  from  the  common  dialect  of  the  Jews. 
According  to  Samaritan  authority  this  version 
was  made  by  their  High  Priest,  Nathaniel,  who 
23 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

died  about  20  B.C.  Some  would  place  it  as 
early  as  the  time  when  their  temple  was  built 
on  Mt.  Gerizim ;  others  place  it  much  later  than 
Nathaniel,  but  it  seems  almost  certain  it  was 
made  before  the  destruction  of  the  second 
temple.  Like  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  on  the 
Pentateuch,  it  is  slavishly  literal,  being  an 
almost  exact  counterpart  of  the  original 
Hebrew-Samaritan  codex,  with  all  its  various 
readings.  This  version  becomes  in  turn  a 
check  on  the  original,  and  thus  strengthens 
the  evidence  of  the  original  as  to  the  correct- 
ness of  our  Hebrew  text. 

There  was  apparently  a  Greek  version, 
although  no  complete  copy  is  now  known  to 
exist. ^ 

An  Arabic  version,  written  in  Samaritan 
letters  about  1070  A.D.,  is  a  very  close  trans- 
lation, although  making  frequent  changes  to 
avoid  anthropomorphic  ideas  of  God. 

IV.       ITS   VALUE 

The  Samaritan  text  has  been  so  disfigured 
by  errors  in  transcription  and  by  arbitrary 
changes  that  it  has  no  great  critical  value. 
When  it  has  been  subject  to  a  thorough  revi- 

^Smith's  Bible  Die,  2813. 

24 


The  Samaritan  Pentateuch 

sion  it  will  be  of  great  use  in  textual  criticism. 
It  has  great  interest  and  value  on  account  of 
its  antique  letters  and  its  lack  of  modern  accent 
and  diacritical  marks.  But  when  we  look  at 
its  testimony  in  a  larger  way,  as  historical  or 
literary,  it  has  a  value  which  puts  it  in  the 
front  rank  of  documentary  evidence  for  the 
general  accuracy  of  our  Pentateuch.  It  be- 
comes evident  from  a  comparison  of  the 
Samaritan  and  the  Jewish  copies  that  the  later 
Jews  have  not  in  any  way  tried  to  change  or 
falsify  these  primary  documents  on  which  so 
much  depends.  The  Pentateuch  as  the  Samar- 
itans have  it,  and  as  the  Jews  have  given  it  to 
us,  is  manifestly  one  book.  Two  independent 
witnesses  confirm  the  fact  beyond  a  doubt. 


25 


The  Septuagint  Translation 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

''The  Septuagint"  is  the  name  given  to  the 
earliest  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment from  the  Hebrew.  Not  only  is  it  the 
oldest,  but  it  is  also  one  of  the  most  valuable 
of  the  translations  coming  down  to  us  from 
antiquity.  Whether  we  consider  its  fidelity  to 
the  original,  its  influence  over  the  Jews  for 
whom  it  was  prepared,  its  relation  to  the  New 
Testament  Greek,  or  its  place  in  the  Christian 
Church,  it  stands  preeminent  in  the  light  it 
casts  on  all  our  investigations  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

I.      ITS    ORIGIN 

No  one  knows  the  secret  of  its  origin.  In 
the  prologue  of  the  apochryphal  book,  ''Wis- 
dom of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Sirach,"^  the  writer 
says:  "For  the  same  things  uttered  in  Hebrew 
and  translated  into  another  tongue  have  not 
the  same  force  in  them ;  and  not  only  these 
things,  but  the  Law  itself,  and  the  prophets, 

»2oo-i3o  B.C. 

29 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

and  the  rest  of  the  books,  have  no  small 
difference  when  they  are  spoken  in  their  own 
language."  This  seems  to  show  that  the 
Scriptures  were  then  known  in  a  Greek  trans- 
lation. 

The  earliest  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
translation  is  found  in  the  celebrated  ''Epistle 
of  Aristeas,"  a  Jewish  Alexandrian  monk, 
whose  date  Buhl  fixes  as  earlier  than  198  B. 
C,  a  full  account  of  which  is  found  in  Jose- 
phus.^  According  to  this  account,  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  King  of  Egypt,  285-247  B.C., 
being  of  a  literary  disposition,  was  making  a 
collection  of  the  world's  best  literature.  His 
librarian,  Demetrius  Phalerius,  called  his 
attention  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  being 
worthy  of  a  place  in  his  collection  on  account 
of  their  great  wisdom.  The  king  at  once  sends 
ambassadors  to  Eleazer,  the  High  Priest  at 
Jerusalem,  loading  them  with  gold  and  jewels 
and  royal  salutations,  and  requests  him  to  send, 
for  the  royal  library,  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures, 
with  wise  men  who  can  translate  them  into 
the  Greek.  Eleazer  selects  seventy-two  learned 
scribes,  and  with  presents  for  the  king,  puts 
into  their  hands  a  precious  copy  of  the  mem- 

^Antiquities,  XII,  2.  4. 

30 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

branes  upon  which  they  had  their  laws  writ- 
ten in  golden  letters.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the 
scribes  they  are  conducted  to  a  house  on  an 
island,  Pharos,  where  they  could  consult  and 
translate  without  distraction.  After  seventy- 
two  days  the  translation  was  completed  and 
handed  to  the  royal  librarian.  He  called 
together  a  number  of  the  leading  Jews  of  the 
city  and  read  it  to  them.  It  was  at  once  ap- 
proved, and  a  curse  pronounced  on  any  one 
who  should  alter  it.  When  it  was  read  to  the 
king  he  was  so  delighted  that  he  sent  the 
scribes  home  laden  with  a  present  of  ten  beds 
with  feet  of  silver  and  furnishings  suited  to 
them,  a  cup  valued  at  thirty  talents,  ten  purple 
garments,  a  very  beautiful  crown,  a  hundred 
pieces  of  the  finest  woven  linen,  and  also 
vials,  and  dishes,  and  vessels  for  pouring,  and 
two  golden  cisterns. 

Later  writers  made  many  additions  to  this 
tradition.  Philo,  born  about  20  A.D.,  tells 
us  these  men  were  actually  inspired  for  their 
work,  so  that  although  each  one  made  a  sepa- 
rate translation,  they  were  found  to  agree  word 
for  word.^  Augustine  afterward  advocated  the 
same   idea.^     Irenaeus,    120-202   A.D.,  elabo- 

*Buhl,  Canon  III. 

2De  Doct.  Christ.  II,  15. 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

rates  this  idea  still  further.  In  his  work, 
''Against  Heresies,"  III,  21,  2,  he  tells  us  that 
Ptolemy,  fearing  these  Jewish  elders  might 
conspire  to  conceal  the  truth  found  in  their 
sacred  books,  separated  them  from  each  other, 
and  commanded  them  each  one  to  write  a 
translation.  They  did  so,  and  when  their 
translations  were  read  before  the  king,  they 
were  found  to  give  the  same  words  and  the 
same  names  from  beginning  to  end,  so  that 
even  the  Gentiles  perceived  that  the  Scriptures 
were  interpreted  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Justin 
Martyr,  who  died  165  A.D.,  says^  that  the 
king  built  as  many  cots  or  cells  as  there  were 
translators,  and  ordered  his  ofificers  to  prevent 
any  communication  between  them,  and  tells  us 
that  he  had  seen  these  cots.  Epiphanius,  who 
died  403  A.D.,  tells  us  the  king  built  thirty- 
six  cottages,  and  put  two  men  in  each,  and 
the  result  was  an  exact  agreement  in  every 
point,  because  the  Holy  Spirit  had  directed 
all  their  work.  Clements  Alexandrinus,  who 
died  217  A.D.,''  says  each  one  of  the  seventy- 
two  made  a  translation,  and  their  work  was 
found  to  agree  in  meaning  and  purpose,  to  the 

'Address  to  the  Greeks,  Chap.  13. 
''Strom.  I,  22. 

32 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

end  that  Grecian  ears  might  have  the  benefit 
of  the  Scriptures. 

In  this  tradition  it  is  hard  to  separate  the 
truth  from  the  fiction.  That  it  is  not  all  true 
does  not  need  argument.  Even  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Jerome,  420  A.D.,  doubts  were  en- 
tertained as  to  its  accuracy.  But  it  may  be 
regarded  as  a  settled  fact  that  at  least  the 
Pentateuch  was  translated  during  the  reign  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  and  the  statement  in 
the  Book  of  Wisdom  shows  the  entire  Bible 
must  have  been  completed  some  time  before 
132  A.D.  We  may  then  fix  upon  the  two 
dates,  286  and  132,  as  the  extreme  limits 
within  which  the  translating  was  done,  with 
the  strong  probability  that  it  was  nearer  the 
former  date.^ 

But  who  did  the  translating?  That  it  was  not 
done  by  persons  thoroughly  trained  in  the  use 
of  the  Greek  language,  such  as  the  king  would 
have  appointed,  is  evident  from  the  character 
of  the  translation.  He  may  have  been 
anxious  to  secure  a  copy  of  so  celebrated  a 
book  as  the  Jewish  Law,  but  his  Greek  schol- 
ars did  not  have  the  work  of  translating  in 
their  own  hands.      If  they  had  translated  it 

^Buhl,  Canon  no.    Encyc.  Brit.,  XXI,  668. 
33 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

they  would  have  conformed  it  to  the  standards 
of  Greek  grammar.  This  has  not  been  done. 
BuhP  describes  it  as  the  jargon  unintelligible 
to  a  Greek.  He  thinks  a  Greek  could  make 
absolutely  nothing  of  many  of  its  expressions, 
and  argues  that  if  the  work  had  been  designed 
to  give  the  cultured  classes  of  Alexandrian 
society  a  knowledge  of  Jewish  Law,  it  cer- 
tainly would  have  been  subjected  to  a  thor- 
ough revision  before  being  put  in  their 
hands. 

On  the  other  hand  there  is  the  best  of  evi- 
dence for  thinking  it  was  not  made  by  learned 
men  from  Palestine.  The  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  text  does  not  come  up  to  the  well- 
known  attainments  of  the  Palestinian  Rabbis. 
Many  Hebrew  words  are  left  untranslated, 
evidently  from  ignorance  as  to  their  true  mean- 
ing. Hebrew  idioms  are  frequently  over- 
looked, and  the  archaic  forms  of  Hebrew 
poetry  are  poorly  understood. 

But  if  we  consider  the  necessities  of  the 
Jews  in  Alexandria,  and  remember  the  com- 
plex influences  affecting  their  language,  we 
find  a  clue  by  which  we  may  determine,  with 
strong  probability,  the  persons  likely  to  engage 

*  Canon  113. 

34 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

in  such  a  work.  They  still  cherished  the  tra- 
ditions and  maintained  their  love  for  their 
native  land,  and  religion,  and  language.  But 
they  were  thrown  into  the  more  energetic  ele- 
ments of  the  Greek  civilization.  Between 
these  two  influences  they  could  not  become 
proficient  in  the  use  of  either  the  Hebrew  or 
Greek  language.  And  when  they  found  it 
necessary  to  have  their  Scriptures  in  the  lan- 
guage of  their  daily  life,  the  demand  would 
not  be  met  by  a  thoroughly  classical  rendering 
of  the  Hebrew,  but  by  a  dialect  in  which 
many  Hebrew  idioms  would  be  transferred  to 
the  Greek.  To  produce  such  a  rendering, 
men  having  a  traditional  regard  for  the 
Hebrew,  and  also  having  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  the  mixture  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  in 
daily  use  among  them,  would  be  best  fitted. 
And  this  we  believe  to  be  the  fact  in  regard 
to  the  authors  of  this  Septuagint  translation. 
They  were  Alexandrian  Jews,  who  translated 
into  the  peculiar  form  of  Greek  in  daily  use 
among  their  people.^ 

»Schurer,  II,  3, 163. 


35 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

II.        THE    CHARACTER   OF   THE   TRANSLATION 

The  different  parts  are  very  unequal  in  merit. 

The  Pentateuch  shows  careful  effort  to  pro- 
duce an  exact,  and  in  many  cases  a  slavishly 
literal  rendering.^  In  other  places  the  transla- 
tion is  peculiarly  forcible  and  appropriate.^  It 
does  not,  however,  always  maintain  this  high 
standard.  On  this  account  some  have  argued 
that  different  persons  must  have  been  employed 
on  different  parts  of  the  Pentateuch.^  Partic- 
ular attention  is  called  to  the  inferiority  of  the 
translation  of  the  fragments  of  poetry  found  in 
Gen.,  49,  and  Deut.,  32  and  33. 

When  we  pass  from  the  Pentateuch  to  the 
Prophets  we  find  a  growing  weakness  in  the 
translation.  In  the  earlier  Prophets,  or  his- 
torical books,  the  rendering  is  quite  exact  and 
clear;  but  the  Prophets  are  very  inadequately 
and  often  very  badly  translated,  so  much  so 
that  the  sense  is  often  hidden,  if  not  entirely 
lost.  In  Jeremiah,  besides  this  imperfection 
of  rendering,  we  find  such  a  remarkable  trans- 
position of  chapters  as  to  lead  to  the  conclu- 
sion  that   the   translators  must    have   used   a 


^Driver,  Samuel  41. 
'Home,  I,  265. 
3Buhl,  116. 


36 


The  Septuaglnt  Translation 

different  Hebrew  text  from  that  now  found  in 
our  Hebrew  Bible.  As  instances  of  such 
changes  we  note  the  following: 

Heb.  Chap.  49:34-39  is  in  the  Sept.  25:14-18. 
"        "      47:1-7      "  "    "       "     29:1-7. 

Sometimes  passages  of  the  Hebrew  are 
omitted  in  the  Septuagint,  as  Jer.,  10 :6,  7,  8, 
10;  33:14-26;  39:4-13.  Many  other  varia- 
tions are  noted  in  Smith's  Bible  Dic.^  and  in 
Driver.^ 

Daniel  was  so  very  deficient  that  it  was 
wholly  rejected  by  the  early  Christian  Church, 
and  a  translation  made  by  Theodotion  in  16 
A.D.  used  in  its  place.  For  a  long  time  the 
Septuagint  translation  of  Daniel  was  supposed 
to  be  lost,  but  in  1772  it  was  discovered  and 
published  at  Rome,  and  later  a  critical  edition 
of  it  was  issued  by  Tischendorf.  But  it  is  so 
poor  as  to  be  of  no  value  whatever.  The  book 
of  Ezra  is  also  so  changed  as  to  be  almost  a 
new  book.^ 

The  poetical  books  are  very  unequal.  The 
Psalms  are  well  executed.*     Proverbs  is  also 

*I262. 
«4i. 

^Buhl,  48. 

*Driver,  Sam.  xli.    Buhl,  121. 

37 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

well  translated,  but  the  other  poetical  books 
are  quite  inferior,  the  fine  framing  of  the  form 
and  the  delicate  conception  of  the  thought 
being  often  conspicuously  lacking.  Of  the 
book  of  Job,  Driver  says,^  ''The  translation  is 
often  unintelligible."  Buhl  says  of  it,^  ''One 
of  the  most  willfully  translated  books  is  the 
book  of  Job,  whose  translator  wished  to  pose 
as  a  poetarum  lector. ' '  The  Song  of  Solomon 
and  Ecclesiastes,  on  the  other  hand,  are  so 
slavishly  literal  as  largely  to  destroy  the  effect 
of  the  original  form. 

Passing  from  these  general  characteristics, 
we  naturally  ask  as  to  the  accuracy  with  which 
the  thought  is  transferred,  for  that,  rather 
than  the  mere  form,  is  the  great  question. 
And  it  is  to  be  noted  that  we  find  the  same 
lack  here  as  in  the  more  general  features  of 
language  and  style.  For  example,  we  find 
one  Hebrew  word  rendered  by  different  Greek 
words  in  the  same  sentence,  and  the  reverse 
also  occurs  Ex.,  12:13,23;  Numb.,  15:4,  5. 
There  is  also  a  manifest  toning  down  of  the 
strength  of  the  original  thought,  the  clear  con- 
ception of  the  original  thought  being  made  dim 
by  the  medium  through  which  it  passes. 

•Sam.  41. 
'Canon,  122. 

38 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

The  translation  is,  indeed,  a  great  work,  a 
most  creditable  work  for  the  time  when  it  was 
prepared,  an  indispensable  work  for  the  Jew 
who  had  lost  his  familiarity  with  his  mother- 
tongue,  and  for  the  Christian  Church,  which 
finds  in  it  an  unimpeachable  witness  for  the 
general  accuracy  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

III.      THE   SOURCES   OF   THE   SEPTUAGINT 

The  fact  that  the  Septuagint  has  so  many 
and  such  important  variations  from  our  Hebrew 
text  leads  to  the  enquiry.  From  what  was  this 
translation  made? 

Some,  noting  the  fact  that  in  more  than  a 
thousand  places  where  the  Septuagint  varies 
from  our  Hebrew  text,  it  agrees  with  the 
Samaritan,  have  concluded  it  must  have  been 
made  from  that,  and  not  from  the  Hebrew  itself. 
But  while  the  Septuagint  agrees  in  so  many 
places  with  the  Samaritan,  as  against  the 
Hebrew,  there  are  yet  still  more  places  where 
our  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint  agree  as 
against  the  Samaritan.  It  is  also  a  fact  that 
in  the  parts  of  the  Septuagint  for  which  no 
Samaritan  copy  exists,  because  they  did  not 
accept  anything  but  the  Pentateuch,  and 
39 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

which  must  therefore  have  been  translated 
from  the  Hebrew,  the  same  tendency  to  vari- 
ation exists.  And  further,  the  constant  fric- 
tion between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans 
would  certainly  have  prevented  the  Jews  from 
going  to  the  Samaritans  for  an  authoritative 
copy  of  their  own  Scriptures. 

Others  have  supposed  that  the  original  from 
which  the  Septuagint  and  the  Samaritan  ver- 
sions were  made  was  a  Hebrew  text  older  than 
that  now  found  in  our  Hebrew  Bible.  It  is 
argued  by  Gesenius  and  others  who  accept  this 
theory,  that  many  copies  of  the  Hebrew  were 
made  by  different  scribes,  all  subject  to  the 
usual  variations  of  hand-copying.  If  we  could 
admit  the  fundamental  assumption  on  which 
this  theory  rests,  that  such  differences  were 
not  considered  essential,  this  would  enable  us 
at  once  and  easily  to  explain  these  discrepan- 
cies. But  we  do  not  admit  the  assumption. 
The  whole  effort  of  Jewish  learning  has  been 
to  preserve  the  old  text  without  alteration. 

The  explanation  of  this  difference  does  not 
demand  any  such  extreme  assumptions.  We 
have  but  to  remember  the  manner  of  making 
copies  in  those  days  to  see  how  easily  differ- 
ences might  arise  and  how  they  would  naturally 
40 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

become  magnified.  But  the  care  taken  of  the 
Hebrew  by  the  Jew  in  Palestine  was  much 
greater  than  the  care  taken  of  the  Greek  by 
the  Jew  in  Alexandria.  We  know,  too,  how 
fond  the  scribe  was  of  showing  his  superior 
wisdom  by  suggesting  emendations,  which  he 
would  not  dare  insert  in  his  Hebrew,  but 
might  in  his  Greek,  and  how  easily  these 
emendations  might  pass  from  the  margin  into 
the  body  of  the  text.  Even  the  Hebrew  has 
not  entirely  escaped  this  danger,  as  is  mani- 
fest from  the  notes  in  our  Hebrew  Bibles,  but 
all  the  conditions  of  the  time  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  people  require  us  to  place  far 
greater  reliance  on  the  accuracy  of  the  Hebrew 
than  on  that  of  the  Greek.  We  believe, 
then,  that  the  differences  maybe  nothing  more 
than  the  results  of  copying,  and  that  the  strong 
presumption  is  that  the  Hebrew  comes  much 
nearer  to  the  original  writing  than  the  Greek. 

IV.       HISTORY    OF   THE    TEXT 

The  earliest  copies  of  the  Septuagint,  being 
made  by  hand,  would  soon  come  to  differ 
among  themselves,  according  to  the  judgment 
and  accuracy  of  the  scribe  making  them. 
This  danger  is  anticipated  in  the  curse  invoked 
41 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

in  the  Epistle  of  Aristeas  upon  any  one  chang- 
ing it.' 

But  this  scribal  carelessness  was  not  the  only 
cause  of  degeneration.  Justin  Martyr^  directly 
charges  the  Jews  with  deliberately  altering 
their  Scriptures  to  avoid  the  force  of  the  argu- 
ments drawn  from  them  by  the  Christians. 
And  it  would  seem  the  charge  might  have 
been  reversed  also,  for  the  Christians  did 
sometimes  resort  to  very  extreme  methods  to 
carry  their  points  against  the  Jews. 

The  text  became  at  length  so  utterly  unreli- 
able that  Origen,  185-254  A.D.,  made  an 
attempt  to  purify  it.  Had  he  been  content 
with  that  one  object,  the  purification  of  the 
text,  his  work  would  have  been  of  lasting  ben- 
efit to  the  world.  But  unfortunately  he  com- 
bined with  that  effort  another  of  the  greatest 
magnitude — namely,  the  attempt  to  determine 
the  relation  between  the  Septuagint  and  the 
Hebrew,  and  by  combining  the  two  threw  such 
confusion  into  the  whole  that  he  left  the  text 
in  a  worse  condition  than  he  found  it. 

His  plan  was  to  arrange  different  versions  in 
parallel  columns,  and  so  discover  the  true  read- 

»McClintock  &  Strong  Cyclopaedia,  IX,  539. 
'Dialogue  with  Trypho,  Chap.  71. 

42 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

ing.     In  six  such  columns  he  placed  the  fol- 
lowing texts. 

I  2  3 

The  Original  He-  The  Hebrew  writ-  The  Greek  trans- 
brew,  ten    in     Greek       lation  of  Aquila. 
letters. 

4  5                                6 
The  Greek  trans-  The    Septuagint.  The  Greek  trans- 
lation   of  Sym-                                        lation   of  Theo- 
machus.  dotion. 

These  Greek  translations  of  Aquila,  Sym- 
machus,  and  Theodotion  were  made  later  than 
the  Septuagint,  the  first  in  the  interests  of  the 
Jews,  and  the  last  in  the  interests  of  the  Chris- 
tians. In  this  great  work  of  Origen,  consisting 
of  about  fifty  large  volumes,  made  in  Caesarea, 
and  known  ever  after  as  the  Hexapla  of  Origen, 
he  sought  by  an  intricate  system  of  marks  to 
indicate  the  corrections  needed  in  the  text. 
His  work  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been 
copied,  although  Jerome  tells  us  he  made  much 
use  of  it  in  preparing  the  Vulgate.  It  was 
destroyed  in  the  seventh  century  in  some  un- 
known manner. 

This  effort  of  Origen  to  purify  the  text  actu- 
ally resulted  in  a  more  hopeless  confusion  than 
before,  for  the  scribes,  not  understanding  or 
heeding  his  marks,  wrote  his  corrections  as 
part  of  the  original  text,  and  so  it  has  become 
43 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

impossible,  with  our  present  appliances,  to 
obtain  a  reliable  copy  of  the  original.^ 

The  work  of  revision  was  again  undertaken 
by  Lucian,  a  presbyter  at  Antioch,  who  died 
in  312  A.D.  His  work,  based  on  a  careful 
study  of  the  original  Hebrew,  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  Chrysostom,  and  soon  became 
the  authority  throughout  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor,  and  was  used  by  Ulfilas  in  making  his 
Gothic  translation.^ 

Still  another  effort  was  made  by.  Hesychius, 
an  Egyptian  Bishop,  martyred  in  312  A.D., 
who  introduced  very  few  changes  in  the  text. 
His  work  was  accepted  in  Alexandria  and 
throughout  Egypt,  as  that  of  Origen  was 
throughout  Palestine. 

For  our  knowledge  of  the  text  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint  we  are  dependent  on  the  early  manu- 
scripts. Three  of  these  hold  supreme  authority, 
their  rank  being  in  the  order  mentioned. 

I.  The  Vatican.  This  is  an  uncial  dating 
from  the  fourth  century^  preserved  in  the 
Vatican  Hbrary  at  Rome,  and  which  is  gener- 
ally quoted  as  ''B."      Professor  Toy*  says  it 

iKeil,  II,  239.    Buhl,  128.    Driver,  Samuel,  45- 
'Nicene  and  Post  Nicene  Fathers,  VI,  488. 
3350  A.D. 
♦Quotations  in  the  New  Testament,  11,  14. 

44 


The  Septuaglnt  Translation 

probably  comes  nearest  to  the  text  of  the  first 
century,  being  substantially  identical  with  it. 
Schiirer^  says  it  holds  the  first  rank  with 
respect  to  the  purity  of  the  text.  Schaff^  says 
it  is  the  best  as  well  as  the  oldest  of  the  man- 
uscripts. It  was  probably  written  in  Egypt, 
but  was  brought  to  Rome  in  1448.  It  con- 
tains all  the  Old  Testament,  except  Gen.,  i  :i 
to  46:28,  and  some  of  the  Psalms. 

2.  The  Codex  Alexandrinus,  generally 
quoted  as  ''A.'*  It  dates  from  the  fifth  cen- 
tury^  and  is  written  in  the  uncial  letters.  It 
was  probably  written  in  Alexandria.  In  1628 
it  was  presented  to  King  Charles  I  of  England 
by  the  Greek  Patriarch,  Cyril  Lucar,  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  Old  Testament  is  complete  in  three  small 
folio  volumes,  containing  640  pages.  There 
are  no  accents  or  breathings,  and  no  spaces 
between  the  words,  but  the  paragraphs  are 
separated.  It  has  many  corrections,  which 
Driver  thinks  have  been  made  to  secure  a  closer 
uniformity  with  the  Hebrew. 

3.  The  Codex  Sinaiticus.  This  was  discov- 
ered by  Tischendorf  in   the   Convent  of  Mt. 

^Jewish  People,  II,  3,  166. 
^Comp.  to  the  New  Test.,  118. 
=»45o  A.D. 

45 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Sinai,  and  is  now  in  the  Imperial  Library 
at  St.  Petersburg.  It  is  quoted  as  (Aleph), 
the  first  letter  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  It 
dates  from  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century. 
It  has  many  corrections,  not  being  as  carefully 
written  as  the  Vatican,  with  which  it  has  a 
very  close  agreement.  Some  would  even  give 
this  the  first  place  for  authority  among  the 
manuscripts,   but  that  is    generally   given    to 

The  Printed  Text. 

Since  the  invention  of  printing  several  edi- 
tions of  the  Septuagint  have  been  issued,  the 
more  important  of  which  are: 

1.  The  Polyglotta Complutensis,  15  14-15 17. 

2.  The  Editio  Veneta,  or  Aldina,  15  18. 

Both  these  editions  are  based  on  a  compar- 
ison of  different  manuscripts,  and  do  not  there- 
fore represent  any  special  text. 

3.  The  Roman  Edition,  Vaticana  or  Six- 
tina,  1587.  This  is  based  on  the  Vatican 
manuscript,  under  the  authority  of  Pope  Sixtus 
V,  and  gives  readings  from  other  manuscripts. 
This  text  has  been  followed  in  most  modern 
editions,  especially  those  by  Van  Ess.  In 
1850  Tischendorf  issued  an  edition  of  it,  em- 
bodying also   the   readings    of   the   Sinaiticus 

46 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

manuscript,  which  he  had  recently  found. 
This  was  again  revised,  in  1880,  by  Nestle, 
who  collated  with  it  many  other  manuscripts. 

4.  The  Codex  Alexandrinus  was  first  pub- 
lished by  Grabe  in  1707- 17 19,  and  in  1816- 
1828  an  edition  was  published  in  fac-simile 
letters,  on  which  great  labor  was  bestowed. 

5.  In  1862  Tischendorf  issued  a  fac-simile 
edition  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus  in  four  vol- 
umes, at  the  expense  of  the  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia. He  also  issued  an  edition  in  the  ordinary 
Greek  type,  which  has  great  value. 

6.  But  all  these  have  been  in  a  manner 
superseded  by  an  edition  just  issued  from  the 
Cambridge  press,  under  the  editorship  of  Dr. 
Swete,  in  three  volumes.  It  contains  the 
text  of  *'B"  with  the  variations  of  the  five 
leading  uncial  manuscripts  on  the  margin. 

V.       THE   VALUE   OF   THE   SEPTUAGINT 

From  this  study  we  can  easily  see  that  the 
Septuagint  is  a  most  valuable  document  for 
purposes  of  Biblical  criticism.  Its  value  is 
indeed  lessened  by  the  corruptions  which  have 
become  so  identified  with  it  as  to  become 
almost  inseparable  from  it,  but  with  all  this,  it 
throws  an  immense  flood  of  light  on  our 
47 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Hebrew  Bible.  It  is  the  medium  through 
which  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Hebrews  were 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  world.  To 
the  Greek-speaking  Jews  in  Alexandria,  in 
Rome,  in  Syria,  and  even  in  Palestine  itself, 
the  Septuagint  became  the  great  treasury  of 
Scriptural  knowledge.  Christ  used  it  when  in 
the  Jewish  synagogue.  Paul  quoted  it  when 
preaching  among  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans. 
Stephen,  the  first  martyr,  died  with  its  words 
on  his  lips.  Grenfield  says  there  are  at  least 
350  direct  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament 
in  the  New,  of  which  not  more  than  fifty  differ 
materially  from  the  Septuagint.  The  indirect 
allusions  to  its  language  are  found  all  through 
the  New  Testament.  No  doubt  much  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  the  general  expectation 
of  a  coming  Messiah  pervading  the  world  when 
Christ  came,  might  be  traced  to  the  circulation 
of  the  Septuagint  among  people  to  whom  the 
Hebrew  was  a  sealed  language. 

Its  value  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
made  by  scholars  to  whom  the  Hebrew  was 
yet  a  spoken  language,  and  when  its  technical 
terms  and  idioms  and  unusual  words  would  be 
better  understood  than  after  it  fell  into  disuse. 
In  history,  in  archaeology,  and  especially  in 
48 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

religious  customs,  it  is  almost  indispensable  to 
the  student.  The  Greek  term  becomes  the 
key  which  unlocks  the  Hebrew.  The  light  of 
the  Greek  word  reveals  a  beauty  in  the  Hebrew 
which  otherwise  would  have  remained  hidden. 
It  gives  practically  a  bilingual  rendering  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Being  made  from  manu- 
scripts far  older  than  any  now  in  existence,  it 
has  the  value  of  an  independent  witness  as  to 
the  true  character  of  the  original.  It  has  thus 
become  almost  as  useful  to  us  as  a  Hebrew 
lexicon  for  the  light  it  throws  on  the  dark 
passages  of  the  Hebrew  text.* 

Greater  still  is  the  value  of  the  Septuagint 
when  we  consider  its  relation  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament. The  transference  of  Hebrew  ideas 
into  Greek  forms  of  thought  became  a  neces- 
sity to  the  extension  of  God's  kingdom  among 
the  nations.  But  the  difference  in  their 
methods  of  expression  was  radical.  The 
Hebrew  mind  lays  the  basis  of  all  thought  in 
a  physical  conception,  and  passes  up  into  higher, 
spiritual  realms.  The  very  names  for  God  and 
for  the  human  soul  have  thus  a  physical  basis 
which  was  never  lost  sight  of  when  the  thought 
was  carried  up  to  its  most  sublime  exaltation. 

*Hatch,  Essays  in  Biblical  Greek,  15. 
49 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

The  Greek  mind  was  different.  Between  the 
physical  and  the  spiritual  they  saw  no  such 
relation,  but  rather  found  an  impassable  bar- 
rier between  them. 

In  the  Septuagint  Greek  we  see  the  process 
by  which  this  change  of  conception  was 
brought  about.  It  does  not  use  the  old 
classical  Greek  as  it  existed  four  centuries 
before  Christ,  through  which  the  Greek  thought 
finds  its  noblest  expression,  but  Greek  as  used 
in  a  foreign  country  and  by  a  foreign  people. 
The  Alexandrian  Jews  were  in  the  midst  of 
Greek  ideas,  and  used  the  Greek  language,  but 
they  used  it  to  express  Hebrew  ideas,  and 
with  their  minds  full  of  Hebrew  methods  of 
expression.  Hence  their  Greek  is  a  dialect  by 
itself.  They  intentionally  put  new  meaning 
into  the  Greek  words  they  were  using.  They 
wrote  in  Greek  and  they  spoke  in  Greek,  but 
they  put  into  the  Greek  words  a  meaning 
which  to  the  native-born  Greek  would  seem 
entirely  out  of  place. 

The  circumstances  were  substantially  the 
same  when  the  New  Testament  was  written. 
To  read  its  meaning  aright  we  must  look  at 
the  Greek  words  through  Jewish  eyes,  we 
must  consider  their  meaning  as  they  would 
50 


The  Septuagint  Translation 

appeal  to  the  Jewish  mind  and  heart.  And 
for  this  the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint  prepares 
the  way  as  no  other  book  does.  It  is  a  noble 
bridge,  with  one  pier  securely  embedded  in  the 
immovable  elements  of  the  Hebrew  language 
and  the  other  resting  firmly  in  the  Greek 
language,  over  whose  wide-springing  arch  the 
great  thoughts  of  God  have  passed  to  enrich 
the  world. 

A  translation  which  has  been  so  honored  of 
God  and  so  useful  to  men  must  have  a  value 
not  easily  estimated.  That  the  Jew  should 
himself  prepare  the  translation  which  was  to 
be  the  most  powerful  instrument  for  extending 
the  truth  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  New 
Testament  teachings,  shows  how  God  is  work- 
ing to  make  all  things  build  up  His  kingdom. 
Had  the  Christian  Church  made  this  transla- 
tion, their  enemies  would  have  rejected  it  as 
partial  and  unfair,  but  when  the  Jew  himself 
makes  it,  all  criticism  is  disarmed.  The  time 
came  when  he  would  have  gladly  disowned  his 
own  work,  because  it  told  so  plainly  of  the 
Messiah,  but  it  was  then  too  late.  It  could 
not  then  be  thrust  aside,  but  remains  to  this 
day  a  monument  to  the  faithfulness  of  the  Jew 
and  a  lighthouse  to  the  Christian. 
5^ 


The  Syriac  Translation 


The  Syriac  Translation 

The  name  Syria  is  applied  somewhat  vaguely 
in  New  Testament  times  to  the  region  north 
and  east  of  Palestine.  During  the  first  cen- 
turies of  our  Christian  era  it  was  the  center  of 
a  very  active  Christian  life.  A  record  of  the 
efforts  made  to  provide  a  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  the  use  of  this  people  becomes  inter- 
esting when  we  remember  that  this  is  the  first 
Christian  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  still 
more  so  when  we  consider  the  peculiarities  of 
the  different  copies  which  have  come  down  to 
us.  The  discovery  of  new  documents  within 
the  last  few  years  has  added  much  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  study. 

There  is  a  tradition  among  the  Syrians 
themselves  that  their  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  grew  out  of  the  intercourse  between 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  and  King  Solomon, 
when  the  Temple  was  being  built.  A  later 
tradition  assigns  it  to  the  period  when  the 
Samaritan  Pentateuch  was  formed.  But  a 
55 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

more  probable  date  is  about  150  A.D.,  when 
the  Gospel  was  first  introduced  into  that  coun- 
try. If  this  be  so,  it  has  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment for  Christian  use. 

Eusebius^  has  an  interesting  story  about  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  among  this  peo- 
ple, when  Thaddeus,  one  of  the  Seventy,  was 
sent  by  the  Apostle  Thomas  to  their  king, 
Abgarus,  and  very  many  were  converted 
through  his  labors.  We  also  know  that  Paul 
preached  and  founded  churches  in  that  region.^ 
These  early  efforts  were  attended  with  imme- 
diate and  great  results.  From  that  time  until 
the  Mohammedan  influence,  in  634  A.D., 
began  to  crush  out  the  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual life  of  the  people,  the  Gospel  had  a  great 
number  of  most  devoted  followers  throughout 
all  that  region.  We  may  still  read  the  story 
of  its  success  in  the  magnificent  mosques  at 
Damascus,  and  Beirut,  and  Tripoli,  as  well  as 
the  Aksa  at  Jerusalem  and  St.  Sophia  at  Con- 
stantinople, which  were  originally  built  by 
these  Syrian  Christians  as  churches,  but  were 
afterward  transformed  and  desecrated  by  the 

»Ch.  Hist.,  I,  13. 
«Gal.  1:21;  Acts  15:41. 

56 


The  Syriac  Translation 

Mohammedans/  Such  a  work  would  at  once 
open  the  way  for  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  their  use. 

The  translation  itself  favors  this  origin,  for 
there  is  a  flavor  of  Christian  sentiment  in  many 
places,  and  a  strong  Messianic  tone  given  to 
the  prophecies  which  betray  their  origin. 
That  it  was  not  all  made  at  one  time  or  by  one 
person  is  also  probable.  Like  the  Vulgate 
and  the  Septuagint,  it  is  the  product  of  many 
hands,  and  in  its  growth  reveals  the  progress 
of  the  work. 

The  different  copies  of  the  Syriac  text 
which  have  come  down  to  us  present  such 
marked  differences  that  it  will  be  desirable  to 
give  a  brief  description  of  them. 

The  translation  which  circulated  most  widely 
among  the  people,  and  was  everywhere  em- 
ployed in  the  services  of  the  church,  is  known 
as  the  Peshitto,  or  the  Simple.  Various  rea- 
sons have  been  given  for  this  name.  Some 
find  it  in  the  fact  of  its  general  use;  others  in 
the  simple  language  employed ;  others  think  it 
was  given  to  distinguish  it  from  a  later  version 
which  introduced  many  of  the  various  readings 
and  marks  collated  by  Origen.'* 

>Schaff-Herzog,  2281. 
«Buhl,  185. 

57 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Little  is  known  in  regard  to  its  origin,  but 
It  probably  dates  from  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  of  which  it  would  be  the  natural 
result.  We  may  safely  assign  it  to  the  latter 
half  of  the  second  century,  probably  to  the 
early  years  of  that  century.  Its  very  early 
origin  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  it 
embraced  only  those  books  earliest  accepted  as 
canonical,^  that  it  circulated  among  all  parties 
into  which  the  Syrian  church  was  soon 
divided,  and  that  it  was  used  in  all  their  theo- 
logical literature.^  Even  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury Ephraem  Syrus  finds  it  necessary  to 
explain  words  which  had  become  antiquated. 

The  Old  Testament  was  made  directly  from 
the  Hebrew,  the  New  from  the  Greek.  Its 
fidelity  and  clearness  are  remarkable,  and  make 
it  especially  valuable  as  an  aid  to  the  study  of 
the  original  text  of  the  Bible.  DeRossi  pre- 
fered  it  to  all  other  ancient  versions,  and  says 
it  closely  follows  the  order  of  the  sacred  text, 
rendering  word  for  word,  and  is  more  pure 
than  any  other.^  Some  parts  of  it  are  more 
reliable  than  others,  but  almost  all  critics  look 
upon  it  with  great  approbation,  and   consider 

*II  and  III  John,  II  Peter,  Jude,  and  Revelation  are  not  found  in  it. 
"Weiss,  448. 
Home,  270. 

58 


The  Syriac  Translation 

it  as  of  the  highest  value  in  critical  study. 
Schaff^  calls  it  **the  queen  of  ancient  versions, 
since  while  it  yields  to  none  in  accuracy  and 
faithfulness,  it  is  idiomatic  and  ab  unfettered 
as  an  original  composition."  The  Peshitto 
text  was  printed  at  Vienna  in  1555,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I,  and 
later  in  the  Paris  Polyglot  in  1645,  and  in  the 
London  Polyglot  in  1657.  In  1823  Samuel 
Lee  edited  the  Old  Testament  for  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  which  published  a 
complete  Syriac  Bible  in  1826.  In  1874  our 
American  Bible  Society  published  the  entire 
Bible  under  the  supervision  of  our  missionaries 
in  Urumiah.  This  edition  has  become  a 
standard  authority.  A  ''literal  translation  of 
the  New  Testament  into  English,"  by  James 
Murdoch,  was  issued  in  New  York  in   185 1. 

Another  text  can  be  traced  back  to  508, 
when  the  Monophysite  branch  of  the  Syrian 
church  prepared  a  translation  based  on  the 
Septuagint.  This  was  again  revised  in  the 
seventh  century  by  Paul  of  Tela.  Its  value 
consists  in  the  help  it  affords  in  the  Hexaplar 
text  of  Origen.  The  New  Testament  was  also 
revised  about  the  same  time  by  Thomas  of 

^Comp.,  152. 

59 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Harkel.  It  follows  Origen's  Hexaplar  text  in 
a  slavish  manner,  and  continually  violates  the 
Syriac  grammar  and  linguistic  usage. ^  Schriv- 
ener'*  calls  it  **the  most  servile  version  of  the 
Scriptures  ever  made."  But  this  absurd 
literalness  makes  it  the  more  valuable  for  crit- 
ical purposes. 

A  very  interesting  contribution  to  the  study 
of  this  text  was  made  by  Dr.  Cureton  in  1858, 
when  he  pubHshed  a  fragment  of  the  Gospels 
containing  many  remarkable  variations  from  the 
Peshitto.  The  manuscripts  from  which  this 
study  was  made  were  brought  in  1842  from 
one  of  the  monasteries  of  the  Nitrian  desert, 
and  give  every  evidence  of  a  very  early  origin. 
Dr.  Cureton  himself  placed  them  in  the  fifth 
century,  on  account  of  certain  peculiarities  in 
the  headings  of  Matthew's  Gospel,  and  believed 
they  contain  the  very  language  of  Matthew's 
Hebrew  Gospel.^  While  this  text  varies  fre- 
quently from  the  Peshitto,  it  has  yet  such 
general  similarity  to  it  as  to  lead  to  the  im- 
pression that  both  may  depend  on  a  still  older 
version,  possibly  that  found  in  Tatian's  Dia- 
tessaron.     Many  careful   scholars  agree   with 

^Bleek,  II,  446. 

'289. 

^Schaff,  Comp.,  156. 

60 


The  Syriac  Translation 

Dr.  Cureton  that  these  fragments  represent  an 
older  text  than  the  Peshitto,  and  are  more 
valuable  for  critical  purposes.  Others  do  not 
assign  them  so  high  a  position. 

Another  text  of  the  Gospels  has  been  pre- 
served in  a  Harmony,  prepared  by  Tatian 
(a  native  Syrian,  as  he  tells  us  in  his  Ad- 
dress to  the  Greeks,  Chap.  XLII),  about 
155  A.D.,  which  he  called  ''The  Diates- 
saron,"  because  it  was  an  account  of  the 
life  of  Christ  made  by  arranging  in  one  nar- 
rative all  the  facts  found  in  the  four  Gos- 
pels. This  work  is  frequently  mentioned  by 
the  early  Christian  writers.  Eusebius^  says, 
**  Tatian  formed  a  certain  combination  and 
collection  of  the  Gospels,  I  know  not  how, 
to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  Diatessaron, 
and  which  is  still  in  the  hands  of  some." 
Ephraem  Syrus,  who  died  in  373,  wrote  a 
commentary  on  it,  in  which  he  frequently 
quotes  the  text.  The  original  work  of  Tatian 
has  long  been  missing,  and  many  modern  schol- 
ars denied  the  accuracy  of  the  statement  of 
Eusebius.  But  search  among  the  old  manu- 
scripts vindicates  his  statement,  so  that  while 
we  have  not  the  original  work  of  Tatian,  we 

»Ch.  Hist.,  IV.  29. 

61 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

can  trace  its  history.  Theodore,  an  Eastern 
Bishop,  in  450  found  200  copies  of  it  in  his 
diocese  alone.  Victor,  Bishop  of  Capua  in 
546,  tells  of  finding  a  work  of  Tatian,  and 
from  his  description  we  know  it  was  this  Har- 
mony of  the  Gospels.  About  the  year  1000 
it  was  translated  into  Arabic,  and  a  copy  of 
this  Arabic  translation  was  presented  to  the 
Vatican  library  in  17 19.  Another  copy  came 
to  light  in  1886.  The  text  of  this  Arabic 
translation  was  published  on  the  jubilee  of 
Pope  Leo  XIII  in  1888,  and  in  1894  the 
Rev.  J.  Hamlyn  Hill  pubHshed  an  English 
translation,  so  that  from  this  translation  and 
from  the  fragments  found  in  the  commentary 
of  Ephraem  Syrus,  we  now  know  that  the 
Diatessaron  was  made  up  from  our  four  Gos- 
pels, and  that  these  four  Gospels  were  trans- 
lated into  Syriac  and  were  circulating  among 
the  churches  as  early  as  155  A. D.  Whether 
Tatian  himself  made  the  translation,  or  whether 
this  was  the  first  attempt  to  produce  such  a 
translation  for  the  benefit  of  the  Syrian 
churches,  are  questions  which  must  wait  for 
more  light  before  they  can  be  settled  posi- 
tively. But  it  is  a  great  gain  to  know  that 
our  four  Gospels  were  then  in  use  in  substan- 
62 


The  Syriac  Translation 

tially  the  same  form  as  we  have  them  to-day.* 
Tatian  omits  the  genealogies  of  Christ,  the 
last  twelve  verses  of  Mark,  Luke  1:1-4,  and 
John  8  : 1  - 1 1 ,  but  otherwise  records  all  the  facts 
found  in  our  Gospels. '^  It  continued  in  use 
among  the  Syrian  churches  for  about  three 
centuries,  when  the  church  authorities  com- 
manded that  it  should  give  place  to  the  four 
complete  Gospels  as  we  now  have  them.' 
Many  leading  scholars  of  England  and  Ger- 
many, Zahn  among  them,  think  Tatian's  text 
is  the  oldest  form  of  the  Syriac  translation. 

But  the  most  romantic,  and  in  some 
respects  the  most  important,  chapter  in  the 
history  of  this  text  is  connected  with  the  find- 
ing, in  1892,  of  the  Sinaitic  Palimpsest  of  the 
Syriac  Gospels  by  Mrs.  Lewis  and  her  sister, 
in  the  Convent  of  St.  Katherine,  on  Mt.  Sinai, 
where  in  1844  Tischendorf  rescued  the  famous 
Greek  Codex  Sinaiticus  from  the  waste  basket 
of  the  monks.  It  is  written  on  strong  vellum, 
having  284  pages,  with  two  columns  on  each 
page.  The  original  text  of  the  Gospels  has 
been  washed  off,  and  the  sheets  used  to  record 
the  lives  of  some  women  saints  whose  history 

^Hill's  Diatessaron,  Introduction. 
'Wilkinson,  96. 
'Mrs.  Lewis,  17. 

63 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

the  monks  evidently  found  more  interesting 
than  the  life  of  Christ.  These  were  photo- 
graphed, and  on  a  second  visit,  in  1893,  with 
the  aid  of  English  scholars,  were  transcribed, 
restoratives  being  applied  to  reveal  the  almost 
^^  obliterated  original  Oreck  writing  of  the  Gos- 

pels. In  1894  this  recovered  text  was  pub- 
lished. Mrs.  Lewis,  during  the  same  year, 
published  an  English  translation.  The  read- 
ings of  this  Codex  agree  in  the  main  with  the 
Greek  Codex  Sinaiticus  and  the  Vaticanus,  as 
also  with  the  Peshitto  and  the  Curetonian 
fragments,  showing  that  the  general  text  of 
the  Gospels  remains  unchanged.  But  it  has 
many  peculiarities  which  show  its  indepen- 
dence. Its  relation  to  the  Diatessaron  remains 
yet  undetermined.  Many  of  its  characteristic 
differences  incline  to  the  readings  of  the  Cure- 
ton  fragments,  so  that  the  question  has  been 
raised  as  to  the  relation  between  them.  Ren- 
del  Harris,  one  of  its  editors,  thinks  that  in  it 
we  have  the  very  first  attempt  at  rendering  the 
Gospels  into  Syriac,  of  which  both  Tatian 
and  the  Curetonian  are  revisions.^  On  the 
^  other  hand  it  is  held  in  Scjirivener's  Introduc- 

tion   that   the    Peshitto   is  the   original  text, 

^Mrs.  Lewis,  XXXII. 

64 


/ 


-^ 


The  Syrlac  Translation 

changed  somewhat  in  the  Curetonian  and  still 
more  in  the  Lewis  Palimpsest.  Mr.  Harris 
says  the  recovery  of  the  Lewis  Codex  marks 
an  epoch  in  New  Testament  studies.^  It  is 
yet  too  early  to  speak  with  authority  on  the 
relation  between  these  texts,  but  the  general 
tenor  of  all  is  to  confirm  the  opinion  that  the 
Gospels  were  translated  and  circulated  freely 
among  the  Syrian  churches  long  before  the 
end  of  the  second  century. 

There  is  also  much  discussion  as  to  the  rela- 
tion between  the  Syriac  and  the  Septuagint. 
As  found  at  present,  many  of  the  readings  of 
the  Septuagint,  where  they  differ  from  the 
Hebrew,  are  found  in  the  Syrian  text.  The 
question  is,  did  the  translators  consult  the  Sep- 
tuagint, or  did  both  the  Syriac  and  the 
Septuagint  use  a  text  which  differed  from  our 
Hebrew  text,  or  are  these  cases  of  agreement 
the  work  of  critics  and  scribes  who  have  pre- 
pared copies  since  the  work  of  translating  was 
done? 

It  is  noted  that  the  places  where  the  Sep- 
tuagint and  the  Syriac  agree  as  against  the 
Hebrew  are  not  those  where  critical  difficulties 
would  seem  to  call  for  a  consultation  of  author- 

*S.  S.  Times,  Apr.  22,  1893. 

65 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ities,  but  are  rather  of  a  Hturgical  character, 
being  found  largely  in  the  Psalms,  so  that  it 
does  not  seem  that  they  relied  on  the  Sep- 
tuagint  as  against  the  Hebrew.  Further, 
when  we  consider  the  very  general  use  of  the 
Septuagint,  as  the  text  on  which  the  greater 
part  of  the  Jews  depended,  it  would  not  be  at 
all  strange  if  its  familiar  renderings  should  in 
many  cases  affect  the  Syriac  translation.  It 
must  also  be  remembered  that  both  the  Syriac 
and  the  Septuagint  were  made  from  a  Hebrew 
text  far  older  than  any  of  the  manuscripts  now 
in  existence,  and  it  is  possible  that  where  the 
Septuagint  and  the  Syriac  now  agree  against 
the  Hebrew,  it  may  have  agreed  with  the 
Hebrew  text  they  both  followed.  And  lastly 
we  must  remember  also  how  much  room  is  left 
for  change  in  the  manner  of  copying  then  in 
use. 

Although  the  text  is  thus  complicated,  there 
is  yet  a  substantial  agreement  among  all  schol- 
ars as  to  its  value  in  literary  criticism.  Its 
great  age,  its  evident  fidelity  to  the  original, 
and  the  fact  that  its  history  is  so  well  known 
as  to  prevent  any  suspicion  as  to  its  genuine- 
ness,   give  it  great  importance.     There  have 


66 


The  Syriac  Translation 

been  many  translations  of  the  Bible  since  this 
was  made,  but  few  of  them  have  such  an  inter- 
esting history  or  have  been  of  greater  service 
to  the  church  or  to  the  Christian  scholar. 


67 


The  Vulgate  Translation 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

We  have  seen  how  the  Greek-speaking 
world  found  the  Word  of  Life  through  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  Syriac-speaking  people  of 
the  North  found  it  through  the  Peshitto. 
When  it  began  to  make  its  way  westward  it 
met  nations  to  whom  the  Latin  was  the  native 
tongue,  and  a  translation  into  that  language 
became  a  necessity. 

The  beginnings  of  this  Latin  version  are 
lost  amid  the  clouds  which  hang  around  the 
early  history  of  the  Church.  But  after  the 
first  appearance  of  the  work  we  can  trace 
three  well  defined  steps  in  its  development. 

I.       THE    OLD    LATIN 

It  is  well  established  that  the  translation 
had  its  beginning  in  North  Africa,  where  at 
a  very  early  day  the  truth  won  some  of  its 
grandest  triumphs.  Here  the  Latin  was  the 
recognized  language,  not  only  of  the  common 
people,  but  of  the  higher  classes  also,  while  at 
71 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Rome  the  educated  classes  used  only  the 
Greek.  TertuUian,  one  of  the  Christian  leaders 
at  Carthage,  145-220  A.D./  speaks  of  a  ver- 
sion in  common  use  which  differed  from  the 
Greek  original,  and  which  he  speaks  of  as 
**rude  and  simple,"  indicating  its  origin.  In 
it  the  principles  of  Latin  grammar  were  con- 
stantly sacrificed  to  obtain  a  literal  rendering 
of  the  Greek,  and  often  the  Greek  word  itself 
was  transferred  to  the  Latin  translation.  It  is 
plainly  the  work  of  earnest  Christians,  who 
had  but  little  education. 

Augustine,  430,'^  says  very  many  such 
attempts  at  translating  were  made.  ''The 
translations  of  the  Scriptures  from  Hebrew 
into  Greek  can  be  counted,  but  the  Latin 
translations  are  out  of  all  number.  For  in 
the  early  days  of  the  faith  every  man  who 
happened  to  get  his  hands  upon  a  Greek 
manuscript,  and  who  thought  he  had  any 
knowledge  of  the  two  languages,  be  it  ever 
so  little,  ventured  upon  the  work  of  trans- 
lating." 

We  can  thus  trace  the  existence  of  a  Latin 
translation  in  Africa  as  early  as  the  middle  of 

^On  Monogamy,  Chap.  ii. 
'^Christian  Doctrine,  2,  11. 

72 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

the  second  century.  Some  have  even  argued 
that  the  Old  Testament  was  begun,  at  least 
among  the  Jews,  before  the  beginning  of  our 
Christian  era.  It  was  a  very  rude  but  literal 
rendering  of  the  Septu^igint,  and  so  included 
the  apochryphal  books  which  had  no  place  in 
the  Hebrew  canon.  Although  it  suffered 
greatly  from  the  effect  of  transcription,  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  officially  revised,  and 
even  after  the  work  of  Jerome  gave  a  far  bet- 
ter Latin  rendering,  it  was  carefully  guarded 
and  universally  used  among  the  churches  of 
Northern  Africa.  To  this  first  rude  attempt  we 
must  trace  all  the  great  versions  now  in  use 
throughout  the  Protestant  world.  This  is  the 
mountain  spring  whose  healing  waters  have 
flowed  down  through  the  Vulgate  and  branched 
out  into  the  German,  HoUandish,  French,  and 
English  Bibles,  bringing  beauty  and  life  wher- 
ever they  have  gone. 

II.      THE   ITALA 

When  this  rude  Latin  translation  began  to 
be  used  in  the  churches  of  Italy,  which  was 
the  case  as  soon  as  the  churches  began  to  use 
the  Latin  instead  of  the  Greek  language,  its 
fidelity  to  the  original  at  once  gave  it  a  strong 
73 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

hold,  but  its  defiance  of  Latin  grammar  and 
culture  was  offensive.  Efforts  were  soon  made 
for  its  improvement.  At  first  it  would  seem 
that  any  one  was  at  liberty  to  introduce  such 
changes  as  seemed  to  him  necessary  or  desir- 
able. But  in  the  fourth  century  the  North 
Italian  church  authorities  made  a  revision  of 
the  African  text.  These  efforts  to  adapt  the 
Latin  translation  which  came  from  Africa, 
resulted  in  what  is  generally  known  as  the 
Itala,  and  which  is  strongly  recommended  by 
Augustine,  who  says,*  "Among  these  transla- 
tions the  Itala  is  to  be  preferred  because  it 
keeps  closer  to  the  words  of  the  original  with- 
out prejudice  to  clearness  of  expression."  In 
the  same  section  he  adds,  further,  ''The  Latin 
texts  of  the  Old  Testament  are  to  be  corrected, 
if  necessary,  by  the  authority  of  the  Greeks, 
and  especially  by  that  of  those  who,  though 
they  were  seventy  in  number,  are  said  to  have 
translated  with  one  voice."  This  allusion  to 
the  Septuagint  reveals  a  fact  which  must  not 
be  forgotten  in  all  this  work  of  early  Latin 
translation,  namely,  that  the  Septuagint,  and 
not  the  original  Hebrew,  was  the  basis  of 
every  effort.     The  knowledge  of  Hebrew  had 

»De  Doct.  Christ.,  II.  15. 

74 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

fallen   so  low  that  it  was  practically  beyond 
their  reach. 

But  all  these  efforts  to  improve  the  Latin 
text  ended  in  greater  confusion,  for  it  became 
impossible  to  tell  what  was  genuine  and  what 
the  fancied  improvement  of  some  individual, 
and  the  Bible,  so  variously  rendered,  had  no 
power  as  an  ultimate  standard  to  which  all 
could  appeal.  Toward  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century  (382  A.D.)  Pope  Damasus  began  an 
effort  to  secure  a  Latin  text  which  should  be 
at  once  accurate  and  scholarly. 

III.      THE   VULGATE 

In  382  the  Pope  called  to  his  assistance 
Sophronius  Eusebius  Hieronymous,  known 
throughout  the  Christian  world  as  Jerome,  and 
committed    the    task    of     revision     to    him. 

Jerome  was  born  in  Dalmatia,  northeast  of 
the  Adriatic,  about  340,  and  died  in  Bethle- 
hem, Palestine,  in  420.  He  studied  in  the 
great  schools  East  and  West,  and  became  the 
most  learned  scholar  of  his  day.  ''Of  all  the 
Latin  fathers  he  was  best  qualified  by  genius, 
taste,  and  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  for 
this   difficult   task."^     Bishop   Westcott  says, 

^Schaff,  Comp.,  148. 

75 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

*'He  alone  for  1,500  years  possessed  the  quali- 
fications necessary  for  producing  an  original 
version  of  the  Scriptures  for  the  use  of  the 
Latin  churches."  Jerome  says  of  himself, 
''My  life  almost  from  the  cradle  has  been 
spent  in  the  company  of  grammarians,  rhetori- 
cians, and  philosophers." 

His  work  may  be  best  understood  if  we  con- 
sider it  in  its  historical  order.  His  first  effort 
was  to  revise  and  correct  the  Latin  by  com- 
paring it  with  the  Greek,  seeking  especially  to 
remove  the  interpolations  which  had  been 
introduced  by  scribes  who  thought  in  this  way 
to  improve  it.  In  the  Preface  to  the  Gospels 
with  which  he  began  his  revision  he  says,  ''If 
we  are  to  glean  the  truth  from  a  comparison 
of  many,  why  not  go  back  to  the  original 
Greek,  and  correct  the  mistakes  introduced  by 
inaccurate  translators,  and  the  blundering 
alterations  of  confident  but  ignorant  critics,  all 
that  has  been  inserted  or  changed  by  copyists 
more  asleep  than  awake?"  How  necessary  he 
thought  the  work  is  seen  from  the  remark, 
*'If  we  pin  our  faith  to  the  Latin  texts,  it  is 
for  our  opponents  to  tell  us  w/iic/i,  for  there 
are  almost  as  many  forms  of  texts  as  there  are 
copies." 

76 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

He  began  his  revision  of  the  Old  Testament 
with  the  Psalms,  producing  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Roman  Psalter,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  correct  the  other  books  by  comparing 
them  with  the  Greek  text  of  the  Septua- 
gint.  Only  small  portions  of  the  Scriptures 
thus  revised  by  him  are  now  in  existence,  and 
many  think  he  did  not  revise  the  entire  Bible. 

In  this  work  he  encountered  two  difficulties. 

One  was  the  complaints  of  those  who  saw 
in  his  version  what  they  thought  an  impious 
attempt  to  change  the  Scriptures.  In  his 
preface  to  Job  he  says,  ''I  am  compelled  at 
every  step  in  my  treatment  of  the  books  of 
Holy  Scripture  to  reply  to  the  abuse  of  my 
opponents.  *  *  "^^  Let  those  who  will 
keep  the  old  books  with  their  gold  and  silver 
letters  on  purple  skins,  or,  to  follow  the  ordi- 
nary phrase,  in  uncial  characters,  loads  of 
writing  rather  than  manuscripts,  if  they  only 
will  leave  for  me  and  mine  our  poor  pages  and 
copies  which  are  less  remarkable  for  beauty 
than  accuracy."  It  would  seem  there  were 
those  in  his  day  who  regarded  any  change  as 
a  giving  up  of  the  truth,  even  when  that 
change  was  caused  by  an  honest  attempt  to 
obtain  a  better  translation  of  God's  Word. 
77 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

The  other  difficulty  against  which  Jerome 
had  to  contend  was  that  he  was  trying  to 
secure  a  correct  rendering  of  the  Bible  without 
going  to  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  for  it. 
He  used  only  the  Septuagint,  and  consequently 
found  many  places  obscure  which  would  have 
been  plain  if  he  had  gone  to  the  fountain 
head.  He  did  not  at  that  time  understand 
Hebrew  very  well,  and  like  all  scholars  of  that 
day,  had  but  a  slight  conception  of  its  value. 
The  book  of  Job  is  very  hard  to  understand 
under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  and  in 
the  Septuagint  is  very  poorly  translated,  and 
when  Jerome  undertook  to  make  a  good  Latin 
translation  out  of  a  very  poor  Greek  one,  he 
came  near  giving  up  in  despair.  In  his  pref- 
ace to  the  book  he  says,  *'An  indirectness  and 
slipperiness  attaches  to  the  whole  book,  even 
in  the  Hebrew;  and  as  orators  in  Greek  say, 
it  is  tricked  out  with  figures  of  speech,  and 
while  it  says  one  thing  it  does  another — just  as 
if  you  close  your  hand  to  hold  an  eel,  the  more 
your  squeeze  it  the  sooner  it  escapes. ' '  Critics 
in  all  ages  have  found  that  when  they 
attempted  to  squeeze  the  text,  the  more  they 
squeeze  the  more  effectually  it  slips  away  from 
them. 

78 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

He  spent  several  years  in  this  attempt  to 
prepare  a  good  Latin  translation,  using  only 
the  Greek  as  the  basis  of  his  work.  The  result 
was  a  great  improvement  on  the  older  and 
very  corrupt  copies  of  the  Itala  which  had  been 
in  common  use,  but  it  did  not  meet  the  re- 
quirement of  the  times  nor  satisfy  Jerome. 
Scholars  were  beginning  to  understand  that 
no  translation  could  be  adequate  or  satisfy  the 
earnest  search  after  truth  which  was  not  made 
directly  from  the  original. 

Even  before  finishing  his  first  effort  Jerome 
had  resolved  on  a  second  and  more  radical 
attempt  to  place  an  accurate  copy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  hands  of  the  people.  About  386 
he  became  Abbot  of  a  monastery  at  Bethlehem, 
Palestine,  and  there  began  a  Latin  translation 
directly  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  This 
work  when  completed  became  an  imperishable 
monument  to  his  own  learning,  as  well  as  a 
fountain  from  which  the  water  of  life  should 
flow  to  millions  of  thirsty  souls. 

He  first  began  to  study  Hebrew  when  he 
was  forty-five  years  old.  He  tells  the  story 
in  one  of  his  letters:^  "What  labor  I  spent 
upon  this  task,  what  difficulties  I  went  through, 

*I25,  12. 

79 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

how  I  despaired,  how  I  gave  over,  and  then 
in  my  eagerness  to  learn  commenced  anew,  can 
be  attested  both  by  myself,  the  subject  of  this 
misery,  and  by  those  who  lived  with  me.  But 
I  thank  the  Lord  that  from  this  seed  of  learn- 
ing, sown  in  bitterness,  I  now  cull  sweet 
fruits."  Once  again  do  we  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  faithful  old  scholar,  as  amid  the  infirm- 
ities of  old  age  he  still  pursues  his  studies.  In 
the  Preface  to  his  Commentary  on  Ezekiel  he 
says:  ''I  am  turning  to  profit,  or  rather  steal- 
ing, the  hours  of  the  nights,  which,  now  that 
winter  is  approaching,  begin  to  lengthen  some- 
what, and  endeavoring  by  the  light  of  the 
lamp  to  dictate  these  comments,  whatever  they 
may  be  worth.  In  addition  to  this  hindrance 
to  my  dictation,  my  eyes  are  growing  dim 
with  age,  and  to  some  extent  I  share  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  saintly  Isaac.  I  am  quite 
unable  to  go  through  the  Hebrew  books  with 
such  light  as  I  have  at  night,  for  even  in  the 
full  light  of  day  they  are  hidden  from  my  eyes 
owing  to  the  smallness  of  the  letters.  In 
fact,  it  is  only  the  voice  of  the  brethren  which 
enables  me  to  master  the  commentaries  of  the 
Greek  writers." 

Every    one    who    has    tried    to    master  the 
80 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

Hebrew  will  sympathize  with  him  in  his  trials, 
and  the  whole  Christian  world  has  reason  to 
thank  God  for  his  perseverance,  since  to  it  we 
owe  one  of  the  best  translations  of  the  Bible. 

Jerome  completed  this  translation  in  404,  ^ 

after  having  given  fourteen  years  to  the  task, 
besides  the  many  years  in  which  he  had  been 
preparing  himself  for  it.  Beginning  with  some 
of  the  easier  historical  books,  he  worked  his 
way  slowly  through  the  entire  Bible. 

His  work  is  quite  unequal  in  its  merits.  On 
some  books  he  bestowed  great  labor.  In  his 
Preface  to  Samuel  and  Kings  he  speaks  of  his 
diligent  translation  and  anxious  emendation, 
and  declares  how  earnestly  he  had  striven  not 
in  the  least  to  deviate  from  the  Hebrew  orig- 
inal. At  other  times  he  was  less  careful.  He 
tells  us  that  to  the  work  of  translating  the 
three  books,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the 
Song  of  Solomon,  he  gave  but  three  days,  and 
those  were  days  of  recovery  from  a  long  illness, 
when  he  did  not  wish  to  be  entirely  silent  and 
dumb.     When    translating    the    apochryphal    .  r^ 

books,  whose  inferiority  he  especially  recog- 
nizes, he  gave  only  one  day  to  the  book  of 
Tobit,  and  that  he  calls  a  "day's  hasty  labor.  *  * 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  a  translation 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

so  radically  different  from  that  in  common  use 
would  be  at  once  accepted  without  protest. 
He  was  accused  of  disturbing  the  peace  of  the 
Church.  His  changes  were  said  to  undermine 
the  foundations  of  the  faith.  Even  where 
they  could  not  help  admitting  his  version  was 
correct  and  the  old  was  wrong,  many  held  it 
was  better  to  allow  the  old  error  to  remain 
than  to  provoke  comparison  by  giving  a  cor- 
rect translation.  And  this  opposition  was 
not  confined  to  the  common  people.  The 
great  scholars,  and  some  not  so  great,  de- 
fended the  old  reading  because  it  had  become 
so  familiar  that  it  ought  not  to  be  disturbed. 
Even  Augustine  urges  this  in  a  letter  to 
Jerome.^ 

To  these  unreasonable  objections  Jerome 
often  responded  in  a  way  which  reveals  his 
fiery  temper  rather  than  his  mature  Christian 
character.  In  one  place  he  speaks  of  the  mad 
dogs  who  bark  and  rage  against  him  and  go 
about  the  city  and  think  themselves  learned 
if  they  disparage  others.  In  the  Preface  to 
his  Commentary  on  Jeremiah  he  speaks  of  one 
of  his  opponents  as  **the  stupid  fool,  laboring 
under   his    load    of    Scotch    porridge."       Of 

^Augustine's  Letters,  82,  3^ 

82 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

Pelagius  he  says,  ''The  devil  who  once  spoke 
through  Jovianus  now  barks  through  the 
hound  of  Albion,  who  is  like  a  mountain  of 
fat  and  whose  fury  is  more  in  his  heels  than 
in  his  teeth."  Another  he  calls  a  two-legged 
ass. 

But  all  this  controversy  was  but  an  incident 
in  the  history  of  this  great  work.  Gradually 
its  merits  pushed  it  forward.  In  the  fifth  cen- 
tury it  was  officially  adopted  by  the  Church  in 
Gaul.  In  the  sixth  century  all  scholars, 
except  those  of  Africa,  recognized  the  work  of 
Jerome  as  being  more  truthful  in  substance 
and  more  perspicuous  in  language,  and  gradu- 
ally, without  any  express  official  sanction,  it 
was  universally  used  in  the  Church,  and  finally, 
by  the  action  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  it  became 
the  standard  of  authority  in  the  Roman 
Church. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  spend  much  time  in 
tracing  the  history  of  this  text  of  Jerome.  It 
suffered  the  fate  of  all  writings  of  the  time. 
As  it  passed  through  the  hands  of  incompetent 
scribes  many  errors  were  introduced.  Many 
expressions  were  transferred  from  the  older 
versions  to  take  the  place  of  Jerome's  render- 
ings which  did  not  please  the  people.  Fre- 
83 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

quent  attempts  were  made  to  arrest  this  evil. 
Even  in  the  sixth  century  Cassiodorus  did  so. 
In  802  the  Emperor  Charlemagne  entrusted 
the  work  of  revision  to  Alcuin,  a  very  learned 
Englishman,  and  his  work  contributed  very 
materially  to  the  restoration  of  Jerome's  text. 
Again,  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Lanfranc,  made  another  attempt, 
and  in  the  twelfth  century  the  Pope  tried  it. 
But  all  such  efforts  were  of  little  avail  as  long 
as  the  multiplication  of  copies  depended  on 
the  pen.  But  when  the  art  of  printing  from 
movable  types  was  introduced,  this  at  once 
revolutionized  the  method  of  preparing  copies 
of  the  Scriptures.  And  it  shows  how  God  uses 
every  advancing  movement  to  build  up  his 
kingdom  when  we  learn  that  the  first  book  to 
issue  from  the  press  was  the  Latin  Bible. 
This  was  probably  in  1455.  Other  editions 
soon  followed,  but  with  great  lack  of  accuracy. 
At  length,  in  1590,  Pope  Sixtus  V,  after 
issuing  an  ofificial  copy  of  the  Septuagint,  sent 
forth  what  he  intended  should  forever  remain 
the  standard  edition  of  the  Vulgate.  He  had 
the  approval  of  the  Council  of  Trent  and  the 
assistance  of  some  of  his  best  scholars,  and 
above  all,  he  was  infallible.  It  was  therefore 
84 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

decreed  that  this  edition  must  be  received  and 
held  as  true,  without  any  doubt  or  controversy, 
in  all  public  and  private  discussions,  readings, 
preachings,  and  explanations.  No  one  might 
publish  any  various  readings.  But  alas !  when 
it  was  issued  it  was  found  very  defective, 
although  proceeding  from  the  infallible  Pope. 

The  next  Pope  attempted  to  throw  the 
responsibility  for  the  mistakes  on  the  printers, 
and  another  effort  was  made  to  fix  a  standard. 
In  1593,  under  Clement  VIII,  another  edition 
was  issued,  which  has  remained  the  recognized 
authority  in  the  Roman  Church  ever  since. 
But  it  has  many  faults,  which  depend  for  their 
removal  on  a  thorough  revision  of  the  text,  a 
work  of  great  difficulty,  for  which  the  time  has 
not  yet  come. 

In  summing  up  our  study  we  note  a  few 
facts  tending  to  show  the  position  and  value 
of  this  great  Latin  version. 

I.  The  Vulgate,  even  more  than  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  is  to  be  studied  as  a  growth.  It  had 
its  origin  among  the  people  who  used  the  bar- 
barous dialects  of  Northern  Africa.  When 
introduced  into  Italy  it  passed  through  many 
changes  and  revisions  calculated  to  make  it 
more  acceptable  to  the  better  educated  classes 
85 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

among  whom  it  was  used.  After  its  revision 
by  Jerome,  on  the  basis  of  the  Septuagint,  he 
went  still  farther  and  brought  it  to  the  search- 
ing test  of  conformity  to  the  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek.  Thus  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  it  was  growing  into  its  present  form.  It 
is  therefore  a  treasury  within  which  many 
scholars  from  many  lands,  through  many 
generations,  have  concentrated  their  best 
efforts. 

2.  The  Vulgate  has  had  a  very  profound 
influence  upon  the  religious  thought  and 
phraseology  of  the  Christian  world.  For  a 
thousand  years  it  was  the  one  book  which  cir- 
culated everywhere  throughout  the  Western 
Church,  and  when  the  great  Reformation  came 
its  peculiar  forms  of  expression  found  their 
way  into  the  modern  translations  which  have 
molded  the  thought  and  life  of  the  Protestant 
world.  It  is  the  connecting  link  between  the 
original  and  the  modern  languages.  Jerome, 
who  put  it  into  its  final  form,  is  called  by 
Erasmus  *'The  Christian  Cicero."  He  first 
introduced  those  terms  which  have  passed  into 
all  the  languages  of  modern  Christendom. 
We  note  such  words  as  justification,  regenera- 
tion, mediator,  revelation,  which  are  first 
86 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

found  in  the  Vulgate,  and  such  words  as  elec- 
tion, inspiration.  Scripture,  which  are  in  the 
Vulgate  made  to  express  thoughts  never  cen- 
tering in  them  before.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  from  the  Vulgate  very  many  of  the  most 
characteristic  terms  in  theology  have  come  to 
us.  It  was  the  right  understanding  of  these 
and  similar  terms  which  roused  the  spiritual 
life  of  men  like  Luther  and  his  companions  to 
such  profound  convictions  as  to  the  truth. 

It  is  to  be  noted  also  that  Jerome  was  a 
very  logical  man,  always  seeking  to  give  liter- 
ally the  force  of  the  original.  In  this  he  dif- 
fered widely  from  the  great  scholars  of  the 
Eastern  Church.  He  made  it  one  of  the  car- 
dinal laws  of  his  translation  to  find  the  literal, 
grammatical  sense,  and  although  he  often 
forgets  his  own  rule,  he  generally  keeps  in  very 
close  touch  with  it.  And  this  principle  has 
passed  through  his  version  into  all  modern 
translations,  and  made  a  profound  impression 
upon  the  religious  thought  of  the  Western 
Church. 

3.  The  Vulgate  is  valuable  also  in  questions 
relating  to  textual  criticism.  It  is  true  its  value 
here  is  greatly  lessened  at  present  by  the  cor- 
rupt state  of  the  text,  which  makes  it  danger- 
87 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ous  to  appeal  to  its  authority.  But  with  all 
its  present  defects  it  has  much  value. 

Its  early  origin  makes  its  testimony  as  to 
the  text  almost  as  strong  as  that  of  those  early 
manuscripts  on  which  we  place  so  much  confi- 
dence. BuhP  says,  ''The  Western  Church 
owed  it  to  Jerome  that  it  learned  to  know  the 
Old  Testament  in  a  form  which,  upon  the 
whole,  was  much  purer  and  clearer  than 
the  Septuagint  or  the  Latin  Bible  translations 
that  were  dependent  upon  it."  H.  P.  Smith 
says,^  ''For  a  really  critical  text  [of  the  Scrip- 
tures] the  Vulgate  is  an  indispensable  neces- 
sity." 

But  when  we  pass  from  these  general  fea- 
tures to  the  finer  questions  of  textual,  verbal 
criticism,  we  find  the  value  of  the  Vulgate 
growing  less.  Jerome  was  a  learned  man  for 
his  day,  but  he  had  almost  nothing  of  what 
constitutes  the  literary  outfit  of  the  modern 
textual  critic.  The  student  of  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  languages  had  then  no  such  helps  as 
our  modern  grammar  and  lexicon;  he  knew 
very  little  of  the  aid  to  be  derived  from  a  com- 
parison  of   their    forms  with  those    found  in 

^Canon,  159. 

"Pres.  and  Ref.  Rev.  II,  234. 


The  Vulgate  Translation 

cognate  dialects.  Even  the  geography  of 
Bible  lands  and  the  customs  of  the  people  were 
not  understood  as  they  are  to-day.  We  can- 
not, then,  for  a  moment  subscribe  to  the  dic- 
tum of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  that  the 
work  of  Jerome  is  final  and  must  be  accepted 
as  equal  to  the  original  in  authority.  We  can 
and  do  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  pre- 
cious monuments  of  Latin  Christianity,  and 
we  praise  God  that  such  a  lighthouse  was  built 
to  guide  us  in  passing  from  those  forms  of 
civilization  which  prevailed  in  the  Old  World  to 
those  newer  forms  which  characterize  our  own 
time.  But  we  must  remember  still,  it  is  only 
an  imperfect  rendering  of  the  Divine  Word, 
and  we  still  have  need  of  the  profoundest 
scholarship  and  the  most  reverent  love  for  that 
Word  if  we  would  receive  from  it  the  fullness 
of  the  truth  which  God  has  stored  within  it. 


89 


The  Gothic  Translation 


The  Gothic  Translation 

We  have  seen  how  God  prepared  the  way 
for  His  Word  among  those  who  used  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages.  Through  them  all  those 
nations  coming  under  the  influence  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  civilization  could  read  His 
Word  in  their  own  tongue.  But  all  over  the 
north  and  west  of  Europe  were  tribes  or 
nations,  more  or  less  allied  in  language  and 
almost  innumerable  in  number,  who  knew 
nothing  of  these  great  languages,  but  needed 
the  Gospel  as  much  as  those  of  a  higher  intel- 
lectual training. 

The  general  term  which  includes  all  these 
tribes  is  Gothic,  and  they  are  more  or  less 
directly  the  ancestors  of  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
German,  HoUandish,  Flemish,  Norse,  Swed- 
ish, Danish,  and  Icelandish  nations,  as  well  as 
of  the  more  composite  nation  known  as  the 
English.^ 

In  their  nature  they  were  like  the  countries 

^Marsli,  41. 

93 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

they  inhabited.  Fierce  and  warlike  in. spirit, 
possessed  of  great  physical  strength,  and  capa- 
ble of  enduring  great  hardship,  they  had  an 
immense  advantage  over  their  Southern  neigh- 
bors, with  whom  they  came  into  frequent  col- 
lision. From  their  home  along  the  Danube 
they  sent  marauding  parties  through  the  more 
fertile  regions  south  of  them,  and  such  was 
the  fierceness  of  their  assault  and  the  countless 
numbers  in  their  armies,  that  the  very  word 
Goth  became  a  synonym  for  everything  savage 
and  resistless.  Wherever  they  went  they 
appropriated  whatever  pleased  them,  and 
ruthlessly  destroyed  what  they  could  not  carry 
away. 

But  if  they  were  more  than  a  match  for 
their  Southern  neighbors  in  physical  strength 
and  numbers,  they  could  not  resist  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Gospel  as  exerted  by  the  people 
over  whom  they  gained  such  an  easy  triumph. 
As  in  so  many  cases,  those  who  conquered  with 
the  sword  were  in  turn  conquered  by  the  Gos- 
pel. They  who  had  delighted  in  blood  and 
conquest,  who  had  for  their  deities  the  fierce 
Wodin  and  Thor,  saw  in  the  peaceful  Jesus  a 
God  more  worthy  of  their  loving  service. 

The  story  of  the  conversion  of  these  wild 
94 


The  Gothic  Translation 

tribes,  and  of  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
their  language  is  one  of  absorbing  interest.  At 
present  we  must  confine  ourselves  to  the  latter, 
and  this  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
life  of  the  man  who  made  it  that  we  cannot 
well  separate  them.  His  name  was  Ulfilas, 
or  Ulphilas,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  Ger- 
man Wolfelein,  or  the  Little  Wolf.  Accord- 
ing to  the  latest  research  he  was  born  in  the 
year  311  A.D.  One  tradition  tells  us  he  was 
the  son  of  a  local  chieftain.^  Philostorgius, 
a  writer  of  the  fifth  century,  and  a  native  of 
Cappadocia,  says  he  belonged  to  a  Cappado- 
cian  family  which  had  accepted  Christianity, 
and  about  267  A.D.  was  carried  into  captivity 
by  the  Goths,  who  had  made  an  invasion  into 
that  region.  This  seems  the  probable  truth. ^ 
At  all  events  he  was  born  among  the  Goths, 
and  remained  among  them  until  he  was  seven- 
teen years  old,  being  much  influenced  by  his 
heathen  surroundings,  we  may  well  suppose, 
but  having  some  knowledge  of  the  Christian 
faith.  In  328  the  Roman  Emperor  Constan- 
tine  gained  a  great  victory  over  the  Goths, 
and  according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  took 


»Andover  Review,  XVIII,  i66. 
'MuUer.  I,  184. 


95 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

from  them  a  number  of  hostages,  young  men, 
as  pledges  of  the  fideUty  of  their  nation  to 
him.  The  seat  of  the  Roman  empire  under 
Constantine  was  Constantinople,  and  thither 
Ulfilas  was  brought,  and  there  he  remained 
for  thirteen  years.  To  a  young  man  like 
Ulfilas,  possessed  of  a  strong  intellect  and  a 
heart  full  of  youthful  enthusiasm,  that  new 
life  would  seem  like  a  new  world.  Everything 
was  different  from  what  he  had  known  in  his 
home  on  the  Danube,  surrounded  by  the  rude 
fierceness  of  his  heathen  companions.  For 
Constantinople  was  not  only  the  seat  of  the 
Roman  empire,  but  the  center  of  the  Christian 
world  as  well.  Under  Constantine  the  polit- 
ical power  became  the  handmaid  of  religion. 
Ulfilas  there  saw  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
buildings  ever  constructed  by  human  hands, 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. He  found  art,  and  music,  and  elo- 
quence, and  wealth,  and  honor  uniting  to  add 
to  the  charm  and  the  grandeur  of  worship. 

The  consequence  can  be  easily  anticipated. 
The  young  heathen  was  charmed  by  the  new 
influences.  He  became  a  student  of  the  Book 
which  inspired  such  a  powerful  system.  He 
accepted  the  Gospel  and  became  a  Christian. 
96 


The  Gothic  Translation 

With  the  true  spirit  of  a  convert,  he  began  at 
once  to  preach  his  new-found  faith  to  his 
Gothic  countrymen  living  in  the  Roman  capi- 
tal. The  Emperor  set  apart  one  of  the 
churches  for  his  use,  and  for  seven  years  he 
served  as  lector,  or  teacher,  of  the  Goths. 
Theodoret  speaks  of  the  ''fascination  of  his 
eloquence."^ 

When  he  was  thirty  years  of  age  he  was 
consecrated  as  bishop  at  a  Synod  over  which 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  was  leader,  and  was 
assigned  to  the  Goths  as  his  field  of  labor. 
He  began  at  once  to  labor  among  his  people.^ 
For  seven  years  he  lived  on  the  north  of  the 
Danube,  in  what  is  now  known  as  Roumania. 
His  work  here  seems  to  have  been  greatly 
blessed,  but  to  have  aroused  the  opposition  of 
those  of  his  people  who  would  not  accept  the 
new  teachings.  Sozomen^  tells  how  he  ex- 
posed himself  to  innumerable  perils  in  defense 
of  the  faith,  so  that  the  Goths  placed  the  most 
implicit  faith  in  him,  and  when  the  Huns  swept 
down  upon  them  from  the  north  they  fled, 
under  his  leadership,  into  Thrace  and  the  sur- 
rounding country,  the  region  now  known  as 

»Eccl.  History,  IV.  33. 
^Andover  Rev.,  XVIII,  169. 
'Eccl.  Hist.,  VI,  37. 

97 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Bulgaria,  and  westward  toward  Germany  and 
northern  Italy.  The  Roman  Emperor  having 
given  his  consent  to  their  occupation  of  this 
region,  Ulfilas  continued  his  work  as  a  Chris- 
tian bishop  for  thirty-three  years,  thus  giving 
in  all  forty  years  to  the  arduous  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  among  his  people. 

During  this  period  the  Arian  controversy 
was  agitating  the  Church.  Ulfilas  himself 
cared  little  for  the  issue,^  but  for  the  sake  of 
peace  he  accepted  the  Arian  doctrine.  Others, 
however,  reach  a  different  conclusion.  In  380 
the  Emperor,  hoping  to  quell  the  bitter  strife, 
called  a  council  at  Constantinople.  Ulfilas, 
now  seventy  years  old  and  feeble  from  his 
long  service  and  great  hardships,  started  for 
the  imperial  city.  Scarcely  had  he  finished 
the  journey  when  he  was  taken  sick,  and  in  the 
closing  days  of  the  year  380,  or  early  in  381, 
he  finished  his  warfare.  His  death  for  a  time 
stilled  the  discord  of  contending  factions,  as 
they  thought  of  his  apostolic  zeal  and  his  pre- 
eminent service  for  his  countrymen.  In  that 
grandest  of  cities,  with  all  the  splendor  of  a 
magnificent  ritual,  attended  by  the  Emperor 
and  the  assembled  bishops,  the  aged  mission- 

^Soz.,  VI,  37.    Soc,  II,  41.    Theod.,  IV,  33. 
98 


The  Gothic  Translation 

ary  was  buried.  Few  men  in  the  long  and 
honorable  roll  of  Christian  heroes  which  adorns 
the  history  of  the  Church  deserve  a  more  kindly 
remembrance  than  Ulfilas,  Bishop  of  the  Goths. 

But  the  position  of  Ulfilas  is  not  due  to  his 
personal  character  or  his  missionary  zeal,  grand 
as  they  are,  and  productive  of  good  in  which 
all  Europe  rejoices  to  this  day.  He  is  known 
as  the  Christian  scholar,  and  especially  as  the 
translator  of  the  Bible  into  the  Gothic  lan- 
guage. 

His  position  as  a  scholar  well  qualified  him 
for  this  work  of  translation.  Although  seven- 
teen years  old  when  he  left  his  home  on  the 
north  of  the  Danube,  we  find  him  gaining  such 
a  mastery  of  both  Greek  and  Latin  that  he 
could  preach  in  them  as  fluently  as  in  his  own 
native  tongue.^  His  knowledge  of  Gothic  was 
such  that  his  translation  was  used  in  the  Chris- 
tian work  done  among  all  the  numerous  clans 
composing  the  Gothic  people,  and  when  they 
began  to  spread  out  over  Italy  and  Spain, 
and  founded  those  great  Gothic  empires  of 
Western  Europe,  this  Gothic  Bible  went  every- 
where with  them,  and  remained  their  one  ^ 
translation    until   their    power    was    broken.^ 

»Encyc.  Brit.,  XXIII,  719- 
«Muller,  I,  187. 

99 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Tregelles  says,  ''It  was  at  one  time  the  ver- 
nacular translation  of  a  large  part  of  Europe."^ 
According  to  Socrates/  he  had  first  to  in- 
vent an  alphabet  before  he  could  write  out  his 
translation,  being  in  this  respect  the  pioneer  of 
many  a  modern  missionary  to  a  barbarous  peo- 
ple. By  combining  the  ancient  Greek  and 
Roman  letters  with  the  old  Runic  characters 
used  among  his  own  people,  he  devised  a  sys- 
tem of  letters  adapted  to  his  work.  It  seems 
y  more  likely,  however,  that  the  real  work  of 
Ulfilas  was  that  of  making  available  what  may 
have  already  existed  in  a  very  rudimentary 
form.^  The  old  Runic  symbols  were  wholly 
inadequate  for  such  a  work  as  translating  the 
Bible,  and  Ulfilas  had  the  genius  to  devise  a 
system  which  was  adequate,  a  task  as  great 
oftentimes  as  that  of  original  invention.  But 
even  if,  with  Sozomen,  we  use  the  softer  ex- 
pression, and  say  he  taught  his  people  the  use 
of  letters,  his  work  still  reveals  the  keen  intel- 
lect as  well  as  the  resolute  will  and  the  strong 
faith  in  the  future  of  his  people,  which  inspired 
him.^ 

^Smith's  Bible  Die,  3377. 
^Eccl.  Hist.,  IV,  33. 
^Horne,  II,  277. 
^Marsh,  90. 

100 


The  Gothic  Translation 

In  the  Old  Testament  his  translation  is  based 
on  the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint,  and  in  the 
New  Testament  on  the  original  Greek  in  which 
it  was  first  written.  Made  thus  in  the  fourth 
century  it  is  a  valuable  guide  to  the  Greek  text 
of  the  Septuagint,  and  being  at  least  as  old,  if 
not  indeed  nearly  a  century  older  than  the 
oldest  Greek  manuscript  we  now  possess,  it 
furnishes  much  assistance  in  determining  the 
true  text  of  the  original  copies  of  the  New 
Testament  books/ 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  his  translation 
covered  the  entire  Bible,  although  much  of  it 
is  not  now  known  to  exist. ^  Westcott^  thinks 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  not  included 
in  it,  and  an  old  tradition  says  he  omitted  the 
Books  of  Kings  because  he  feared  their  warlike 
spirit  would  stir  up  the  passion  for  war  among 
his  people.  But  as  fragments  of  the  very 
stimulating  Book  of  Nehemiah  have  been 
found,  it  seems  very  improbable  that  a  man  so 
courageous  as  Ulfilas  would  shrink  from  pub- 
lishing a  part  of  the  Scriptures  through  any 
such  fear.  At  present  large  portions  of  the 
Gospels,   nearly    all  of    Paul's    Epistles,    and 

^Smith's  Bible  Die,  3378. 
=And.  Rev.  XVIII.  169. 
=»£?.  Heb.,  XXVI. 

lOI 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

parts  of  Esther  and  Nehemiah,  have  been  re- 
covered and  published.  When  the  old  Gothic 
civilization  and  power  yielded  to  the  new  spirit 
which  has  so  revolutionized  Europe,  the  lan- 
guage shared  in  the  destruction.  So  utter  was 
its  overthrow  that  it  was  once  thought  all 
written  remains  of  the  language  had  perished, 
but  more  careful  research  has  brought  to  light 
these  fragments. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  of  these  frag- 
ments is  the  manuscript  of  the  Gospel  known  as 
the  Codex  Argenteus.  It  is  written  on  a  beau- 
tiful purple-tinted  vellum,  the  letters  being 
faced  with  silver,  except  the  first  letter  of  the 
sections  and  some  prominent  passages  which 
are  faced  with  gold.  Its  perfection  of  finish 
and  style  of  lettering  have  led  some  to  think 
the  work  must  have  been  done  with  some  sort 
of  type,  although  the  art  of  printing  came  eight 
hundred  years  afterward.  At  present  only 
1 88  of  its  original  320  leaves  are  known  to  exist. 

This  Codex  Argenteus  has  a  history  whose 
romantic  interest  surpasses  almost  everything 
else  in  literature.  It  is  thought  to  have  been 
prepared  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years    after    Ulfilas    died,    about    530    A.D/ 

^Marsh,  91. 

102 


The  Gothic  Translation 

When  the  Goths  migrated  westward  this  manu- 
script was  brought  from  its  old  home  on  the 
lower  Danube,  and  all  trace  of  it  disappears 
for  about  one  thousand  years.  But  in  the 
sixteenth  century  (1563)  Conrad  Gesner,  a 
bookworm  rummaging  among  the  old  manu- 
scripts in  the  Monastery  of  Werden,  West- 
phalia, found  it  and  copied  from  it  the  Lord's 
Prayer  as  a  literary  curiosity.  Again  it  disap- 
peared, no  one  knows  how,  and  was  not  seen 
again  till  in  1648,  when,  at  the  close  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  the  Swedish  army  sent 
home  some  of  the  plunder  they  had  taken  in 
the  capture  of  the  city  of  Prague  in  Bohemia. 
Among  these  treasures  was  the  Codex  Argen- 
teus.  A  few  years  later,  when  Queen  Chris- 
tina abdicated,  search  was  made  for  it,  and 
again  it  was  gone,  no  one  knew  where.  In 
1665,  nearly  twenty  years  after  it  came  to 
Sweden,  it  was  discovered  in  Holland,  among 
the  treasures  of  Isaac  Vossius,  who  had  been 
the  Queen's  librarian.  How  he  came  by  it  is 
one  of  the  unsolved  mysteries.  Some  have 
said  the  Queen,  out  of  regard  for  her  old  ser- 
vant, gave  it  to  him.  Others  think  that  the 
Swedish  general,  who  brought  the  plunder  from 
Prague,  allowed  his  old  friend,  the  librarian, 
103 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

to  keep  this  as  a  memento  of  his  triumph,  the 
man  of  the  sword  not  valuing  very  highly 
what  the  man  of  the  quill  thought  worth  more 
than  all  else.  But  if  Vossius  had  not  been  a 
Hollander,  and  so  above  any  such  suspicion, 
we  might  perhaps  think  that  the  old  scholar, 
knowing  the  true  value  of  the  rusty-looking 
document,  had  quietly  slipped  it  into  his  own 
pocket,  instead  of  depositing  it  on  the  shelves 
of  the  royal  library.^ 

At  all  events  there  was  the  Codex  Argen- 
teus  in  the  possession  of  Vossius,  and  the 
Swedish  Government  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  regain  the  precious  document.  So  a  Swed- 
ish nobleman.  Count  Magnus  de  la  Gardie  by 
name,  was  sent  to  Holland  to  get  it.  He  did 
so  by  paying  Vossius  six  hundred  dollars. 
On  its  restoration  to  Sweden  it  was  magnifi- 
cently bound  in  silver  and  deposited  in  the 
library  of  the  University  of  Upsala,  where  it 
remains  to  this  day,  one  of  its  most  valuable 
documents.  But  the  romance  is  not  yet  ended. 
In  1854  the  Swedish  scholar  Uppstrom  wished 
to  issue  a  critical  edition  of  it  for  the  benefit 
of  scholars,  and  behold,  ten  leaves  were  miss- 
ing.    No    one  knew  when   or  how  they  had 

»Bib.  Sacra,  XVI,  443- 

104 


The  Gothic  Translation 

disappeared.  Suspicion  fell  upon  an  English- 
man, but  a  few  years  later  the  real  thief  was 
found  to  be  a  Swede,  who  on  his  death-bed 
confessed  he  had  the  missing  leaves.  It  is  now 
safely  guarded  as  one  of  the  choicest  literary 
treasures  of  Sweden,  in  a  steel  safe,  in  a  fire- 
proof room  in  the  library  of  the  University  of 
Upsala. 

In  1672  in  the  library  at  Wolfenbuttel,  Ger- 
many, a  fragment  of  the  Gothic  translation  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  was  discovered.  In 
18 1 7,  in  the  library  at  Milan,  northern  Italy, 
Cardinal  Mai,  when  trying  to  decipher  some 
old  palimpsest  manuscripts,  discovered  some 
Gothic  letters  which  proved  to  be  parts  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  Further  study  brought 
to  light  other  portions  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  a  complete  copy  of  the  thirteen  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul.  Thus  the  most  important  parts 
of  the  work  of  Ulfilas,  after  being  scattered 
over  Europe  for  nearly  fourteen  centuries, 
were  again  reunited.^ 

This  Gothic  version  stands  forever  as  a 
moument  to  the  devout  scholarship  of  the  man 
who  made  it.  Between  the  rude  life  of  his 
childhood  and  the  undeveloped  resources  of 

^Smith's  Bible  Die,  3378. 

105 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

his  native  language  and  this  highly  finished, 
and  in  many  cases  felicitously  rendered  trans- 
lation, there  is  a  chasm  over  which  few  men 
would  have  been  bold  enough  to  attempt  a 
passage.  But  with  almost  unparalleled  labor 
**he  compelled  that  sanguinary  language  to 
repeat  the  Psalms  of  David,  the  parables  of 
the  Evangelists,  and  the  theology  of  Paul."^ 
He  thus  almost  literally  created  a  language 
into  which  he  translated  the  Bible  which  for 
nearly  five  hundred  years  was  used  by  a  large 
part  of  Europe.^  Such  work  could  be  done  by 
no  ordinary  man,  and  that  Ulfilas  should  thus 
consecrate  his  talents  to  the  dissemination  of 
God's  Word  as  the  best  work  he  could  do  for 
humanity,  shows  how  truly  he  had  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  Master. 

This  version  has  also  a  literary  value  which 
is  very  great.  It  is  by  far  the  oldest  existing 
monument  of  any  Teutonic  language.^  It  is 
seven  centuries  older  than  the  Edda  of 
the  Scandinavians;  five  centuries  older  than 
the  Nibelungen-lied  of  Germany;  three  cen- 
turies older  than  the  poem  of  Caedmon,  which 

»Quoted  in  And.  Rev.,  XVIII,  i68. 
'Whitney.  213, 
'Schaff-Herzog,  2416. 

106 


The  Gothic  Translation 

marks  the  beginning  of  English  poetry.* 
Whitney'*  says,  ''Scanty  as  these  relics  may 
be,  they  are  of  inestimable  value  in  illustrating 
the  history  of  the  whole  Germanic  branch  of 
Indo-European  language,  and  bridging  over 
the  distance  which  separates  it  from  other 
branches."  Marsh^  says,  "In  accidence  and 
vocabulary  the  Maeso-Gothic  of  Ulfilas  is  purer 
and  more  unsophisticated  than  any  other  philo- 
logical monument  of  European  literature." 
Grimm*  says,  "But  for  his  incomparable  work 
the  foundations  of  the  German  language  would 
have  been  lost ;  nor  can  we  easily  estimate  the 
greatness  of  our  loss  in  the  large  portions  of 
the  Gothic  Bible  which  have  disappeared." 
It  is  a  fountain  whose  waters  have  found  their 
way  into  all  the  more  powerful  languages  of 
modern  Europe. 

This  version  has  also  its  value  in  the  study 
of  Biblical  criticism.  Its  early  origin  introduces 
us  to  the  Septuagint  and  the  Greek  New  Tes- 
tament as  they  existed  at  a  very  early  period. 
It  shows  a  careful  knowledge  of  Greek  gram- 
mar, and  by  its  close  following  of  the  original 

»And.  Rev.,  XVIII,  169. 

'213. 

'Lit.,  91. 

*And.  Rev.,  XVIII.,  169. 

107 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

enables  us  to  see  clearly  the  condition  of  the 
text  he  used.  It  is  well  known  that  Ulfilas 
himself  accepted  a  modified  form  of  the  Arian 
teachings  which  were  then  agitating  the 
Church.  But  those  who  have  carefully  exam- 
ined his  translation  declare  that  his  doctrinal 
belief  has  not  perceptibly  colored  his  transla- 
tion. 

When  we  consider  the  numerous  peoples 
which  have  sprung  more  or  less  directly  from 
that  old  Gothic  stock,  and  the  prominent  place 
they  have  filled  in  the  development  of  modern 
Europe  and  America,  we  can  see  what  reason 
we  have  for  thankfulness  that  in  that  critical 
period  when  our  ancestors  were  breaking  away 
from  their  idolatry  and  giving  up  their  savage 
life,  God  raised  up  a  man  like  Ulfilas,  whose 
love  for  God  and  his  countrymen  and  his  zeal 
for  their  welfare  led  him  to  translate  the  Bible 
that  it  might  be  their  guide  in  all  their  wander- 
ings and  teach  them  the  true  secret  of  a  well 
ordered  life. 


io8 


The  German  Translation 


The  German  Translation 

For  nearly  one  thousand  years  after  Ulfilas 
gave  his  translation  to  the  Goths  no  further 
effort  was  made  to  adapt  the  language  of  the 
Bible  to  the  wants  of  the  common  people.  In 
the  East  the  Greek  version  and  in  the  West 
the  Latin  satisfied  scholars,  and  were  used  in 
public  worship.  Not  until  new  conditions  of 
society  arose,  and  the  people  refused  any  longer 
to  remain  satisfied  with  the  repetition  of  words 
which  had  no  meaning  to  them,  was  any  serious 
effort  made  to  provide  a  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  which  all  could  study  for  them- 
selves. 

Two  influences  combined  to  keep  the  people 
ignorant  of  the  true  teachings  of  the  Scriptures : 

I.  The  difficulty  of  providing  copies  of  it  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  supply  so  great  a  demand. 
Before  the  invention  of  printing  the  work  of 
making  a  copy  of  the  Bible  was  both  slow  and 
expensive,  so  that  only  people  of  great  wealth 
could  afford  to  have  it  as  a  private  possession. 


V- 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

2.  But  a  far  more  powerful  reason  was  the 
unwillingness  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
to  allow  the  people  to  read  the  Bible  for  them- 
selves. Their  constant  cry  was  that  the  com- 
mon people  cannot  understand  the  Scriptures, 
except  as  the  Church  explains  it  to  them. 
The  prohibition  of  the  Bible  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  put  forth  at  the  Council  of  Toulouse 
in  1229,  and  repeated  by  other  councils  in 
various  parts  of  the  Church,  was  but  the  ex- 
pression of  a  sentiment  which  had  been  long 
growing  among  the  Roman  Catholic  priests, 
who  frowned  upon,  and  as  far  as  they  could, 
prevented  anything  like  Bible  study  among  the 
people. 

The  earliest  attempts  to  furnish  a  popular 
translation  for  modern  Europe  are  involved  in 
great  obscurity.  Some  try  to  find  a  beginning 
as  early  as  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  (742-814), 
or  his  son  Louis,  but  there  is  slender  founda- 
tion for  such  an  opinion.  The  fact  is  every 
great  modern  translation  is  a  growth.  At  first 
there  is  an  attempt  to  set  forth  the  substance 
of  the  more  popular  parts  of  the  Bible  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  attract  the  popular  mind  and 
heart.  These  earliest  efforts  are  generally 
poetical  in  form  and  make  no  claim  to  any- 
112 


The  German  Translation 

thing  Hke  a  literal  translation.  Thus  we  find 
in  the  ninth  century  ( about  860)  a  rhymed 
harmony  of  the  Gospels,  in  High  German,  in- 
terspersed with  mystical  reflections,  which  is 
now  known  under  the  name  of  Krist,  written 
by  Otfried  of  Weissenburg,  in  lower  Alsace.^ 
In  this  the  beautiful  story  of  our  Savior's  life 
is  set  forth  with  all  the  embellishments  of  tra- 
dition and  mysticism,  as  well  as  with  all  the 
graces  of  poetry.  About  the  same  time  ap- 
peared a  Low  Saxon  harmony  of  the  Gospels 
in  alliterative  verse,  so  as  to  be  more  easily 
committed  to  memory  by  those  who  could  not 
read,  and  which  breathes  the  same  warlike  spirit 
as  prevails  among  their  descendants  to  this 
day.  To  the  same  period  belongs  a  prose 
translation  of  the  Gospel  Harmony  of  Tatian, 
based  on  a  Latin  translation  made  by  Victor 
of  Capua." 

In  the  tenth  century  (about  980)  Notker 
Labeo,  abbot  of  St.  Gall,  made  a  translation  of 
the  Psalms.  About  a  century  later  Williram, 
or  Willeram,  an  abbot  of  Mersburg,  made  a 
metrical  paraphrase  of  the  Song  of  Solomon 
in  Latin,  accompanied  by  one  in  prose  in  Ger- 

^Reuss,  479. 
«Encyc.  Brit.,  3,  647. 

113 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

man,  in  which  the  mystic  ideas  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  that  book  are  set  forth.  Somewhat  later 
we  find  a  metrical  version  of  Genesis  and  some 
other  parts  of  the  Bible..  Of  these  the  author- 
ship is  largely  unknown,  and  the  work  very 
imperfectly  done,  but  they  had  a  great  in- 
fluence in  arousing  the  people  to  independent 
thought.' 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  work  of  transla- 
tion begins  to  assume  a  more  practical  turn. 
Metrical  translations  of  Genesis  and  other  books 
are  produced,  and  these  are  followed  by  render- 
ings in  prose.  They  are  generally  the  work 
of  some  individual,  who,  according  to  his 
knowledge  or  his  fancy,  has  made  his  work  a 
reasonably  close  rendering  of  the  Vulgate,  and 
adorned  it  with  such  illustrations  and  expla- 
nations as  the  subject  seemed  to  him  to  de- 
mand or  his  learning  could  supply.  In  the 
Imperial  Library  at  Vienna  there  is  a  quarto 
manuscript  containing  fragments  of  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  in  the  Old  German 
tongue,  chiefly  in  verse,  and  written  as  early 
as  I2IO  A.D.  In  the  same  library  is  a  mag- 
nificent copy  of  the  Old  Testament,  executed 
about    1400  for  the   King  of  Bohemia,  richly 

^Tov/nley,  I,  293.    Reuss,  480. 

114 


The  German  Translation 

illuminated,  and  showing  the  fine  attainments 
of  the  copyist.^ 

A  feature  of  this  period  was  the  production 
of  *  *  Historical  Bibles. ' '  These  are  translations 
of  such  portions  of  the  Bible  as  contain  the 
narratives  which  tell  the  story  of  God's  won- 
derful dealings  with  his  people,  but  omit  the 
didactic  parts ;  the  idea  being  that  the  people 
could  understand  that  which  tells  in  an  objec- 
tive way  the  story  of  God's  love  and  care,  but 
the  rest  was  beyond  their  grasp. 

The  first  complete  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  Middle  High  German  was  made  in 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.^ 
Its  origin  is  unknown,  the  attempt  to  prove  its 
Waldensian  origin  not  being  established.* 
Compared  with  that  noble  translation  which 
the  German  people  have  to-day,  it  was  a  very 
poor  version.  It  came  not  from  the  original 
fountain  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures,  but 
from  the  Latin,  which  was  itself  very  imper- 
fect, but  it  was  infinitely  better  than  the 
senseless  mutterings  of  the  priests  in  a  lan- 
guage of  which  the  people  knew  nothing,  and 
often  the  priests  not  much  more.     It  was  at 

^Townley,  I,  354,  526. 
'Reuss,  480. 

aPres.  Rev.,  VIII,  3S5.  ^ 

IIS 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

least  in  their  own  language,  and  it  was  a 
prophecy  of  something  better  yet  to  come. 
If  the  rude  paraphrases  which  preceded  this 
translation  marked  the  dawn  of  a  better  day, 
this  told  them  how  the  day  was  marching  on, 
so  that  already  the  sun  itself  began  to  be  visi- 
ble in  the  eastern  sky. 

The  invention  of  printing  in  1462  gave  an 
immediate  impetus  to  the  work  of  translation, 
and  made  it  possible  to  circulate  it  freely 
among  the  people.  Almost  the  first  book  to 
be  published  was  the  Bible,  and  between  the 
invention  of  printing  and  1522,  when  Luther's 
New  Testament  first  appeared,  seventeen  or 
eighteen  editions  of  this  first  German  transla- 
tion were  published,  fourteen  editions  in  the 
High  German,  and  the  others  in  Low  German. 
Besides  these  editions  of  the  complete  Bible, 
very  many  special  books,  like  the  Psalms,  Gos- 
pels, and  Epistles,  were  issued.  These  circu- 
lated everywhere  among  the  people,  and  were 
among  the  most  important  agencies  in  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  great  Reformation.^ 

These  repeated  efforts  to  furnish  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  which  could  be  read  by  the 
masses   of  the   German    people    naturally    at- 

^Schaff,  Hist,  of  the  Chr.  Church,  VI,  343. 
116 


The  German  Translation 

tracted  the  attention  of  the  Roman  Church. 
Council  after  council  uttered  its  fulminations 
against  those  who  would  dare  to  possess  or 
read  a  German  Bible.  In  i486  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mainz  issued  a  decree  forbidding  the 
printing  of  the  German  Bible,  and  calling  upon 
all  who  possessed  one  to  deliver  it  to  the 
priests  that  it  might  be  publicly  destroyed, 
giving  as  his  reason  that  the  noble  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  could  not  be  conveyed  through 
the  rude  medium  of  German  words,  and  that 
the  laity  could  not  understand  the  Scriptures 
except  when  duly  explained  by  the  priest. 
But  it  was  now  too  late.  The  people  having 
tasted  the  good  Word  of  God  in  their  own 
familiar  language,  would  no  longer  chew  the 
tasteless  cud  of  a  foreign  language,  repeated 
by  a  man  who  did  not  himself  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  words  he  uttered. 

All  the  conditions  of  education  and  of  re- 
ligious thought  in  Germany  were  now  favorable 
to  an  advance  in  the  work  of  Bible  transla- 
tion. Grave  questions  of  doctrine  and  duty 
arose,  for  the  solution  of  which  that  rude  Ger- 
man translation  from  an  imperfect  Latin  ver- 
sion could  not  be  depended  upon.  Greek 
scholars,  Hke  Erasmus  and  Melancthon,  and 
117 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Hebrew  scholars  who  investigated  the  original 
found  how  defective  that  Latin  version  was, 
and  pointed  out  how  much  more  satisfactory 
a  correct  rendering  of  the  original  would  be. 
The  time  had  now  come  when  Germany  needed 
a  thorough  translation  from  the  original  He- 
brew and  Greek  Scriptures,  and  as  usual,  God 
had  the  man  ready  to  do  it. 

That  man  was  Martin  Luther.  Educated 
for  the  Roman  priesthood,  he  was  led  to  a 
careful  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  as  the  light 
dawned  upon  his  own  soul,  he  felt  that  the 
great  need  of  his  countrymen  was  such  a 
knowledge  of  God's  Word  as  could  be  found 
only  by  a  careful  study  of  it  in  their  own  lan- 
guage. It  was  not  long  before  the  bold  utter- 
ance of  his  convictions  led  to  that  conflict  with 
his  church  which  resulted  in  his  being  taken 
by  the  Elector  Frederick  of  Saxony  for  pro- 
tection to  the  fortified  castle  of  the  Wartburg, 
above  Eisenach,  one  of  the  finest  portions  of 
the  Thuringian  forest. 

The  hand  of  God  was  in  this,  for  in  the  en- 
forced leisure  which  followed  Luther  gave  his 
thoughts  to  a  translation  of  the  Bible  suitable 
for  the  spiritual  edification  of  his  people.  On 
the  twenty-first  of  September,  1522,  he  issued 
118 


The  German  Translation 

the  New  Testament,  and  twelve  years  later  the 
entire  Bible,  including  the  Apochrypha,  was 
published  at  Wittenberg  by  Hans  Lufft. 

To  this  translation  Luther  devoted  his  best 
energies.  Although  he  had  few  of  those  liter- 
ary appliances  now  thought  essential  for  crit- 
ical study,  he  made  a  special  study  of  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  that  he  might  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  original.  His  supreme 
thought  was  to  reproduce  the  spirit  of  the 
text,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  change  the 
form  if  by  so  doing  he  might  be  more  sure  of 
reaching  the  German  mind. 

The  text  from  which  he  translated  the  New 
Testament  was  that  of  the  fourth  edition  of 
Erasmus,^  or  according  to  Schaff,^the  second, 
published  in  15 19,  both  of  which  contain 
many  errors.  The  Hebrew  Bible  used  by  him 
was  one  printed  in  Brescia,  Italy,  in  1494. 
Neither  of  these  texts  would  now  be  consid- 
ered suitable  for  such  a  purpose. 

In  translating  the  New  Testament  Luther 
worked  alone  and  with  great  care,  some  por- 
tions of  his  manuscript,  which  is  still  pre- 
served, showing  at  least  fifteen  revisions  before 


»Encyc.  Brit..  XVI.  75- 
=Comp.  to  the  New  Test.,  231. 


119 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

he  submitted  it  to  the  press.  When  he  issued 
the  second  edition,  only  three  months  after  the 
first,  he  received  some  suggestions  from  Eras- 
mus.^ But  when  he  came  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment he  found  the  Hebrew  a  very  stubborn 
language,  and  was  glad  to  call  on  his  friends 
for  assistance.  In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends, 
Wenceslaus  Lincus,  he  says,  ''How  difficult 
and  laborious  the  task,  to  force  the  Hebrew 
writers  to  speak  German,  which  they  resist, 
like  the  nightingale  refusing  to  quit  its  dehght- 
ful  melody  to  imitate  the  coarse  notes  of  the 
monotonous  cuckoo."'^ 

To  secure  greater  efficiency  he  had  a  weekly 
gathering  of  his  most  highly  educated  friends 
at  his  house,  which  Matthesius  calls  a  private 
Sanhedrim,  but  which  Luther  calls  "Collegium 
Biblicum."  To  these  meetings  came,  among 
others,  Melancthon  with  his  Greek,  Cruciger 
with  his  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  Bugenhagen 
with  his  Latin,  and  Jewish  rabbis  full  of  rab- 
binical lore.  Over  them  was  Luther  himself, 
with  a  copy  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Bible, 
and  the  manuscript  of  his  own  translation  for 
their    inspection.       When    they    encountered 

lEncyc.  Brit.,  XV,  76. 
^Townley,  II,  10. 

120 


The  German  Translation 

passages  requiring  special  knowledge  he  called 
in  men  celebrated  in  that  line.  Thus  when 
translating  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  Revelation,  with  its  long  catalogue  of 
precious  stones,  he  sent  for  Spalatin,  the 
keeper  of  the  royal  jewels,  who  brought  some 
of  the  rarest  gems  for  their  inspection.  When 
engaged  on  Leviticus,  with  its  minute  details 
in  regard  to  sacrifices,  he  sent  for  a  butcher, 
and  had  him  dissect  an  animal  before  him  and 
explain  the  name  of  each  part.^  Sometimes 
they  hunted  two  weeks  for  a  single  word,  and 
often  a  passage  of  three  lines  would  consume 
four  or  five  sittings.  His  aim  was  to  make  a 
translation  which  could  be  understood  by  the 
mother  in  the  house,  by  the  children  in 
the  streets,  and  by  the  laborer  in  the  market. 
He  tells  us  that  in  order  to  find  the  most 
appropriate  word  he  was  accustomed  to  look 
men  everywhere  in  the  mouth  that  he 
might  learn  how  they  expressed  themselves. 
His  own  genius  for  music  and  poetry  especially 
fitted  him  for  translating  the  poetical  books, 
in  which  he  found  great  delight. 

But   Luther  had    other  qualifications    even 
more  essential  than  learning.      He  had  a  spirit- 

^Encyc.  Brit.,  XV,  76. 

121 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ual  nature  all  aglow  with  the  truth  he  sought 
to  translate.  His  own  profound  conviction  of 
the  truthfulness  and  importance  of  the  Bible 
entered  into  and  became  a  constituent  part  of 
his  work.  His  translation  is  full  of  life,  im- 
passioned in  expression,  because  it  comes  from 
a  soul  itself  on  fire  with  the  truth.  His  own 
poetical  and  musical  nature  finds  expression  in 
language  which  is  the  very  soul  of  poetry  and 
music.  He  does  not  translate  merely  to  satisfy 
a  craving  for  the  truth,  he  does  not  think 
merely  of  the  beauty  of  the  thoughts  he  seeks 
to  express,  but  always  he  stands  face  to  face 
with  the  spiritual;  he^  is  in  the  presence  of 
God ;  he  hears  the  voice  of  the  Almighty  speak- 
ing to  him ;  he  sees  before  him  the  man  of 
Galilee  whose  words  are  full  of  a  Divine  spirit 
which  at  once  charms  and  captivates  his  heart. 
It  is  this  exquisite  harmony  between  Luther 
and  the  truth  he  sought  to  express  which  con- 
stitutes the  supreme  excellence  of  his  transla- 
tion. Luther  himself  says,  ''A  good  transla- 
tion requires  a  truly  devout,  faithful,  diligent, 
Christian,  learned,  experienced,  and  practical 
heart."  In  him  all  these  endowments  meet  as 
they  have  never  done  in  any  other  man  who 
has  given  himself  to  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 


The  German  Translation 

The  work  of  Luther  was  instantly  accepted 
by  the  German  people.  Within  three  months 
after  the  New  Testament  was  issued  a  second 
edition  was  necessary,  and  before  the  Old  Tes- 
tament was  finished  seventeen  editions  of  the 
New  had  been  published  under  the  supervision 
of  Luther,  and  more  than  fifty  reprints  by 
others.  He  continued  to  revise  and  modify 
the  text,  seeking  greater  simplicity,  until  in 
1545,  one  year  before  his  death,  he  issued 
what  has  become  the  standard  edition.^  With 
a  few  unimportant  verbal  changes  this  transla- 
tion has  continued  in  general  use  until  the 
present  day. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  modify 
or  supplant  it.  In  1667  Hildebrand  von 
Canstein,  founder  of  the  great  Bible  house, 
began  a  rescension,  which  was  continued  until 
1 7 19.  *'It  acquired  a  large  circulation,  and 
became  the  textus  receptus  of  the  German 
Bible.'"  In  1828  the  Bible  Society  at  Stras- 
burg  issued  a  New  Testament  with  some 
changes  suggested  in  the  margin,  but  the  work 
was  never  completed.  In  1838  De  Wette  pre- 
pared   a  new    translation,    which    has    great 

*Reuss,  489. 

•SchafiE,  Hist,  of  the  Chr.  Ch..  VI,  349. 

123 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

literary  merit.  In  1882  Weizsacker  issued  a 
New  Testament  which  has  gone  through 
several  editions,  in  which  he  attempts,  with 
great  success,  to  present  the  Greek  thought  in 
the  popular  language  of  the  day,  without  giv- 
ing a  literal  translation.  Still  more  recently 
Kautzsch  has  done  the  same  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, embodying  the  latest  results  of  scholar- 
ship in  many  tables,  charts,  and  maps,  forming 
one  of  the  most  learned  translations  ever  made. 
Weizsacker  and  Kautzsch  are  bound  together. 
But  none  of  these  has  attained  any  promi- 
nence in  the  religious  life  of  Germany,  or  in 
any  way  interfered  with  the  increasing  useful- 
ness of  Luther's  work. 

In  1857  the  need  of  a  uniform  text  became 
so  manifest  that  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Church  Congress,  the  Canstein 
Bible  Society  undertook  to  prepare  a  ''Revised 
Edition."  It  was  understood  that  the  changes 
were  to  be  limited  to  such  as  had  become 
absolutely  necessary,  and  that  these  should  be 
made  in  harmony  with  the  diction  of  Luther's 
own  work.  A  large  number  of  the  leading  theo- 
logical professors  in  the  German  universities 
were  engaged  in  the  work  of  revision.  In  1870 
the  New  Testament  was  ready  for  distribu- 
124 


The  German  Translation 

tion,  and  in  1883  the  so-called  'Trobebiber' 
appeared.  This  was  again  subject  to  revision, 
and  in  1890  went  into  general  circulation. 
This  revision  was  made  with  very  great  care, 
and  is  very  conservative,  only  about  two 
hundred  changes  being  made  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  these  are  confined  to  the  correction 
of  acknowledged  mistranslations.  The  New 
Testament  has  met  with  considerable  approval 
and  is  widely  circulated.  But  as  a  whole  the 
Probebibel  has  found  almost  no  favor  among 
the  masses  of  the  German  people.^ 

It  would  be  easy  to  point  out  defects  in  this 
great  work.  Luther  was  not  a  profound 
scholar  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  and 
the  strong  searchlight  of  critical  investigation 
had  not  yet  been  thrown  upon  the  sacred  text. 
It  is  essentially  a  product  of  the  times,  and 
has  the  character  of  the  man  who  made  it.  In 
his  desire  to  be  understood  he  sometimes 
introduces  words  which  smell  of  the  gutter, 
when  others  might  have  been  found  which 
would  express  the  idea  as  clearly.  That  he 
did  not  always  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  meaning 
of  the  text  may  be  freely  admitted.  His  ultra 
Protestantism  may  be  traced  in  such  words  as 

^Schaff,  Hist.  Chr.  Ch.,  VI,  366. 
125 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

"nur"  in  Rom.,  iv.  15,  and  ''allein'*  in 
Rom.,  iii.  28.  Such  blemishes  are  but  motes 
in  the  sunbeam,  and  as  we  exult  in  the  beauty 
and  fullness  of  the  truth  shining  forth  from  its 
pages,  we  may  well  pass  them  in  silence  as  we 
emerge  into  the  glorious  light  shining  around 
us.  It  has  exerted  a  wholesome  and  vivifying 
influence  in  every  department  of  German  life. 
In  one  sense  it  may  be  said  to  have  created 
the  modern  German  language.  Before  this 
every  tribe  and  state  had  its  own  dialect,  and 
the  people  of  one  section  could  scarcely  un- 
derstand those  from  another  part  of  the  coun- 
try. He  chose  the  Franconian,  or  Saxon 
dialect,  used  in  the  court  and  state  documents, 
and  then  enriched  it  by  contributions  from 
every  department  of  German  learning.  He 
thus  made  himself  understood  by  "all  classes, 
whether  they  used  the  High  or  Low  German, 
and  his  Bible  is  still  the  standard  of  the  Ger- 
man tongue,  and  has  preserved  unity  of  lan- 
guage and  Hterature  to  the  German  nation.* 
Reuss^  says, ' '  Its  language,  happily  rising  out  of 
Old  German  harshness,  the  best  Luther  wrote, 
and  surpassed  by  none  of  his  contemporaries, 

iProf.  Lindsay,  in  En.  Brit.,  XV,  76. 
"490. 

126 


The  German  Translation 

sounded  like  a  prophecy  of  a  golden  age  of 
literature,  and  in  manly  vigor  and  anointing 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  it  has  ever  remained  a  model 
unapproached."  An  English  historian  by  no 
means  partial  to  Luther's  religious  work  says 
his  translation  of  the  Bible  is  **the  greatest  of 
all  the  gifts  he  was  able  to  offer  to  Germany." 
The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  X,  528,  says: 
**For  the  first  time  it  gave  the  nation  a  literary 
language.  *  *  *  It  is  thus  to  Luther  that 
the  Germans  owe  the  most  essential  of  all  con- 
ditions of  a  truly  national  life  and  literature." 
Dollinger,  speaking  of  Luther,  says:  ''It  was 
Luther's  supreme  intellectual  ability  and  won- 
derful versatility  that  made  him  the  man  of  his 
age  and  of  his  nation.  *  *  *  He  has 
given  more  to  his  nation  than  any  other  one 
man  has  ever  done — language,  popular  educa- 
tion, the  Bible,  sacred  song.  *  *  *  it  was 
he  who  put  a  stamp  upon  the  German  lan- 
guage as  well  as  upon  the  German  character. 
And  even  those  Germans  who  heartily  abhor 
him  as  a  great  heretic  and  betrayer  of  religion 
cannot  help  speaking  his  words  and  thinking 
his  thoughts." 

The  effect  of   Luther's  translation   on    the 
Roman    Church    forms    an  interesting  study. 
127 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

They  saw  at  once  that  it  would  be  a  more 
powerful  adversary  to  their  cause  than  even 
Luther  himself,  and  they  hated  the  book  more 
than  the  man  who  made  it.  As  soon  as  it  ap- 
peared it  was  violently  assailed  by  the  Roman 
clergy.  Dr.  Emser,  one  of  their  ablest  and 
fairest  critics,  pointed  our  fourteen  hundred 
heresies  and  falsehoods  in  the  New  Testament 
alone. ^  It  was  to  them  a  very  serious  and 
fatal  objection  that  Luther  translated  directly 
from  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,  instead  of  from 
the  Latin,  which  they  exalted  above  the  origi- 
nal. The  whole  tone  of  the  work,  its  bold 
antagonism  to  every  claim  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  its  underlying  assumption  of  the  right 
of  individual  freedom  in  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  were  so  diametrically  opposed  to 
their  position  that  they  saw  it  must  be  crushed 
or  it  would  crush  them.  It  was  a  challenge  to 
battle  which  they  could  not  decline  without  an 
open  acknowledgment  of  defeat. 

This  led  to  a  course  of  action  without  prece- 
dent in  the  Roman  Church.  They  determined 
to  prepare  a  German  translation  which  should 
serve  as  an  antidote  to  that  of  Luther.  With- 
in five  years  after  Luther's   New  Testament 

*Townley,  II,  20. 

128 


The  German  Translation 

appeared  Emser  issued  what  he  calls  ''A  cor- 
rect translation  of  the  New  Testament."  But 
he  made  the  fatal  mistake  of  using  the  Latin 
as  the  basis  of  his  work  instead  of  the  original 
Greek.  Its  purpose  was  so  evidently  to  weaken 
the  influence  of  Luther,  rather  than  to  furnish 
a  correct  translation  of  the  Word  of  God,  that 
its  power  for  good  was  destroyed.  Except 
upon  the  points  at  issue  it  was  little  more  than 
a  reproduction  of  Luther's  translation,  so  that 
Luther  said  of  it,  ''He  has  left  out  my  preface, 
inserted  one  of  his  own,  and  then  sold  my 
translation  almost  word  for  word."  Reuss^ 
says  of  it,  *Tt  is  Luther's  translation  revised 
according  to  the  Vulgate."  In  1534  the  entire 
Bible  was  issued  in  German,  and  in  1537  the 
famous  Dr.  Eck  prepared  a  second  translation, 
but  neither  of  them  could  counteract  the  ever- 
increasing  influence  of  Luther. 

Luther's  translation  has  also  exerted  a  pow- 
erful influence  on  all  the  great  translations  of 
modern  Europe.  In  Switzerland  it  was  ac- 
cepted, with  slight  modifications,  and  contin- 
ues to  this  day  the  national  Bible.  In  England 
it  aroused  a  spirit  of  investigation  which  has 
produced  our  noble  English  version,  and  left 

M79. 

129 


The   Bible  Among  the  Nations 

its  impress  on  many  a  well-known  passage. 
In  Holland  it  prepared  the  way  for  a  version 
which  has  no  superior  in  its  fideHty  to  the 
original.  In  France  it  became  a  beacon  light 
to  the  struggling  Protestants,  and  taught  them 
how  to  prepare  the  Scriptures  for  the  use  of 
the  people.  All  these,  while  they  have  their 
individual  virtues,  and  reflect  to  some  extent 
their  national  characteristics,  have  this  in  com- 
mon that  they  follow  Luther  in  using  the 
purest  forms  of  language  and  are  pervaded  by 
an  intense  spiritual  earnestness. 

The  influence  of  Luther's  translation  upon 
the  religious  life  and  thought  of  the  time  is 
equally  manifest.  The  great  need  of  that 
period  of  theological  perplexity  was  a  standard 
to  which  all  could  appeal.  The  masses  could 
not  read  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  they  had  be- 
come suspicious  of  the  Church  and  her  tradi- 
tions, they  had  lost  confidence  in  the  teachings 
of  the  priests.  Into  that  disturbed,  bewildered 
discontent  came  the  translation  of  Luther, 
appealing  to  them  not  only  by  its  simple  lan- 
guage, but  far  more  by  its  profound  harmony 
with  their  own  spiritual  desires  and  longings, 
and  at  once  it  was  welcomed  by  every  one 
seeking  for  the  truth.  It  was  like  the  sudden 
130 


The  German  Translation 

appearance  of  the  pole  star  to  the  mariner  after 
long  tossing  upon  a  tempestuous  sea.  It  was 
as  if  the  Bible  had  been  written  anew.  It  did 
not  create  the  Reformation,  but  it  was  the 
pendulum  which  regulated  that  mighty  move- 
ment. It  was  the  one  element  necessary  to 
give  intelligence  and  success  to  an  effort  which 
began  in  a  blind  struggle  to  break  from  chains 
which  could  no  longer  be  borne,  and  find  the 
truth  which  alone  could  satisfy  them.  The 
spiritual  Germany  immediately  felt  its  power. 
It  drew  them  together  so  as  to  make  the 
Reformation  a  more  signal  success  in  Germany 
than  anywhere  else  on  the  Continent.  Nor 
was  its  influence  confined  to  that  age.  Says 
the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica:^  *'For  three 
centuries  it  has  been  to  innumerable  millions 
the  supreme  sanctifier  and  councilor,  the  power 
associated  with  their  tenderest,  most  pathetic 
memories,  the  one  link  which  has  connected 
sordid  lives  with  noble  and  sublime  ideas." 
Reuss^  says:  ** However  much  in  after  times 
the  Church  was  tossed  to  and  fro  on  the 
troubled  sea  of  opinions,  Luther's  Bible  was 
still  in  the  school  and  home,  and  was  always 
the  anchor    that   led   it    back   again   to   solid 

>X.  528. 

'484. 

131 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ground."  Protestant  Germany,  and  Protestant 
Europe  as  well,  bear,  and  will  always  bear,  the 
impress  of  Luther's  spirit  as  reflected  in  his 
translation  of  the  Bible.  As  long  as  that 
German  nation  continues  to  use  Luther's 
Bible,  and  its  simple  and  soul-inspiring  lan- 
guage is  incorporated  into  its  literary  and 
spiritual  life,  it  cannot  go  fatally  astray. 
Under  disturbing  influences  and  entangling 
speculations  in  philosophy  and  religion  it  may 
for  a  time  waver  and  seem  to  forget,  but 
as  the  magnetic  needle,  turned  for  a  mo- 
ment from  its  true  course  by  some  tempo- 
rary attraction,  w4Il  swing  gradually  back  to  its 
place  when  that  disturbing  element  is  removed, 
so  will  that  nation  swing  back  to  its  allegiance 
to  Christ  and  feel  again  the  exhilaration  of  a 
new  life  as  it  drinks  from  this  open  fountain  of 
Divine  truth. 


132 


The  English  Translation 


The  English  Translation 

When  Augustine,  or  Austin,  the  Roman 
Catholic  monk,  went  as  a  missionary  to  Eng- 
land, in  596  A.D.,  the  Pope  sent  him  a  Bible, 
the  Psalter,  the  Gospels,  and  several  other 
books  of  a  religious  character.^ 

This  Bible  was  the  old  Latin  version  out  of 
which  afterward  grew  the  Vulgate,  which  is 
now  used  in  all  the  services  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  This  Bible  was  in  two  vol- 
umes, one  of  which  is  said  to  be  preserved  in 
the  Bodleian  Library.  This  Latin  text  was 
used  in  the  first  efforts  to  produce  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  version,  which  is  the  historical  ancestor 
of  our  English  Bible. ^ 

Many  traditions  exist  as  to  the  early  attempts 
to  provide  a  version  for  the  use  of  the  English 
people. 

The  earliest  on  which  any  reliance  can  be 
placed    is   that    of    Caedmon,    in    680.      His 


^Turner,  I,  203. 
•Bissel,  4. 


m 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

romantic  history,  by  the  Venerable  Bede,  tells 
us  his  business  was  to  look  after  the  cattle  be- 
longing to  the  monastery  of  Whitby.  In  a 
dream  he  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him,  ''Caed- 
mon,  sing  some  song  to  me."  He  pleaded 
his  lack  of  poetical  or  musical  ability,  but  when 
the  command  was  repeated  he  said,  ''What 
shall  I  sing?"  The  answer  came,  ''Sing  of 
the  beginning  of  created  things."  When  his 
dream  was  related  to  the  Abbess  Hilda,  she 
caused  the  Scripture  narrative  to  be  explained 
to  him,  and  the  next  day  he  returned  with  a 
poetical  rendering  of  great  beauty.  Bede  tells 
us^  he  then  sang  of  the  creation  of  the  world, 
of  the  origin  of  man,  with  many  histories  of 
the  Holy  Writ,  the  life  of  Christ,  and  many 
other  Biblical  topics. 

But  little  of  this  work  of  Caedmon  has  been 
preserved,  and  that  can  hardly  be  called  a 
translation ;  it  is  rather  a  poetical  paraphrase  in 
which  the  facts  of  Scripture  are  given,  but 
adorned  with  many  fancies  which  have  no 
place  in  the  Bible.  Its  chief  interest  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  first  recorded  effort  to 
reproduce  the  Scripture  in  the  vernacular. 

About    the    close    of    the  seventh  century, 

^IV,  24. 

136 


The  English  Translation 

Guthlac  of  Croyland,  having  one  of  the  Psal- 
ters brought  from  Rome,  wrote  in  it  an  inter- 
linear Saxon  translation,  which  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum;  and  not  long 
after,  about  706,  Aldhelm  made  another  Saxon 
translation  of  the  Psalms,  the  first  fifty  of  them 
in  prose,  the  rest  in  poetical  form.^ 

Another  notable  writer  was  Bede,  since 
known  as  the  Venerable  Bede,  because  of  his 
great  work  for  the  church.  He  wrote  a  history 
of  the  early  English  Church,  and  prepared 
commentaries  on  several  books  of  the  Bible. 
A  tradition  says  he  translated  the  entire  Bible, 
but  if  he  did  so  his  work  has  perished.  More 
credit  may  be  given  to  the  story  of  his  transla- 
tion of  the  Gospel  of  John,  the  last  verse  of 
which  was  finished  on  the  day  of  his  death. ^ 

Alfred,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
Saxon  kings,  wrote  a  translation  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  which  he  placed  at  the  head 
of  a  code  of  laws  which  he  prepared  for  his 
people,  and  was  engaged  in  translating  the 
Bible  when  he  died. 

Not  long  after  Alfred's  time  we  find  a  trans- 
lation of  the  four  Gospels,  but  of  its  exact  date 
or  of  the  persons  who  prepared  it  we  have  no 

*Condit,  27. 
«Bede,  Introd.,  i8. 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

authentic  information.  And  about  the  close 
of  the  tenth  century  -^Ifric,  a  Saxon  abbot, 
translated  much  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
some  of  the  Apocrypha. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  all  these  early  efforts 
were  very  crude  and  fragmentary.  These 
early  authors  rendered  only  small  portions  of 
the  Bible,  but  we  find  already  in  the  time  of 
Alfred  and  ^Ifric  a  degree  of  fidelity  to  the 
original  and  a  literary  finish  which  entitle  them 
to  great  respect.  The  Anglo-Saxon  was  then 
fixed  in  its  character,  and  the  fragments  of 
Bible  translation  which  yet  remain  furnish  us 
with  some  of  the  best  specimens  of  its  beauty. 
These  early  renderings  were  all  made  from  the 
Vulgate,  but  from  the  comparatively  pure  text 
which  Augustine  brought  with  him  to  England, 
so  that  in  textual  criticism  they  still  have  a 
recognized  value,  while  as  the  beginning  of  the 
effort  to  secure  an  English  Bible  they  must 
ever  have  a  profound  interest. 

With  the  advent  of  William  the  Conqueror 
(1071)  England  was  wholly  transformed.  The 
government  was  concentrated  in  one  person, 
new  elements  of  social  life  were  introduced, 
commerce  was  wonderfully  developed,  and  the 
intellectual  life  greatly  quickened.  Over  the 
138 


The  English  Translation 

church  his  power  was  rigidly  enforced.  "In  a 
word,  it  is  to  the  stern  discipline  of  our  foreign 
kings  that  we  owe  not  merely  English  wealth 
and  English  freedom,  but   England  herself."^ 

Not  the  least  of  these  transformations  was 
that  of  the  language.  The  Anglo-Saxon  sim- 
plicity was  mingled  with  the  Norman  dignity, 
and  our  modern  English  arose,  Saxon  still  with 
its  intense  heart  power,  but  rounded  into  a 
richer  fullness  by  the  broader  culture  of  the 
Norman. 

Such  a  change  made  it  necessary  to  prepare 
a  new  translation  of  the  Scriptures  for  the 
people.  For  a  century  and  a  half  there  was 
great  political  disturbance,  and  not  much  that 
may  be  called  literary  development.  But  early 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  about  1225,  we  find 
a  metrical  paraphrase  of  those  parts  of  the 
Gospels  and  Acts  which  were  read  in  the  daily 
services  of  the  Church,  accompanied  by  a  com- 
mentary, written  by  Orm,  or  Ormin,  which 
shows  how  the  Norman  and  other  influences 
were  affecting  the  Saxon.  A  fragment  of 
about  20,000  lines  is  preserved  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  from  which  printed  copies  have  been 
made.     While  it  reflects  the  language  of  the 

^Green,  1, 125. 

139 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

period,  it  did  not  exert  much  influence  in  the 
development  of  it.  If  we  substitute  modern 
spelling,  it  looks  and  sounds  much  like  the 
English  we  use  to-day.^ 

In  the  beginning  of  the  next  century  we  find 
what  we  may  call  the  first  literal  translations. 
About  1327  William  de  Shoreham  rendered 
the  Psalms  into  prose,  making  a  rendering 
which  is  remarkably  strong  and  accurate,  con- 
sidering he  had  only  the  Latin  text  on  which 
to  base  his  work.  Soon  after  Richard  RoUe 
made  another  prose  translation  of  the  Psalms, 
accompanied  with  a  comment  on  each  verse. 
He  also  prepared  metrical  paraphrases  of  sev- 
eral passages  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. As  a  specimen  of  this  early  work  we 
give  the  opening  sentences  of  RoUe's  version 
of  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  as  found  in  Mom- 
bert's  Handbook  of  the  Bible  (35): 

"Our  lord  gouerneth  me  and  nothyng  to  me 
shal  wante :  stede  of  pasture  that  he  me  sette. 

"In  the  water  of  hetyng  forth  he  me  broughte ; 
my  soul  he  turnyde.  He  ladde  me  on  in  the  streetis 
of  rygtwisnesse :   for  his  name." 

But  the  time  had  now  arrived  when  the 
people  of  England  demanded  the  whole  Bible 

^Moulton,  12. 

1^0 


The  English  Translation 

in  a  more  careful  translation,  and  in  response 
to  this  demand  came  the  great  work  of  John 
Wyciiffe,  which  forms  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous landmarks  in  the  history  of  our  Eng- 
lish Bible. 

Wyciiffe  was  born  in  1324,  in  Yorkshire, 
studied  at  Oxford,  was  a  teacher  and  preacher 
of  great  power,  professor  of  theology  at  Ox- 
ford, rector  of  Lutterworth,  where  he  re- 
mained until  his  death  on  the  last  day  of  the 
year  1384.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  learning, 
bold  and  aggressive  in  character.  Early  in 
life  he  began  to  oppose  the  ideas  of  religion  as 
taught  by  the  Roman  Church,  and  his  entire 
life  was  full  of  conflict.  In  1379  he  suffered 
from  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  but  recovered,  only 
to  be  excommunicated  for  his  persistent  ad- 
herence to  the  truth.  He  saw  that  the  greatest 
need  of  the  time  was  a  Bible  which  would 
reveal  to  the  people  the  true  way  of  life.  The 
Roman  Church  taught  that  the  Bible  was 
intended  for  the  clergy,  a  sort  of  manual  for 
the  conduct  of  worship,  a  book  which  did  not 
specially  concern  the  laity,  and  whose  unre- 
stricted circulation  would  be  injurious  rather 
than  helpful.  When  Wyciiffe  published  his 
translation  they  said  it  was  casting  pearls 
141 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

before  swine ;  by  means  of  it  the  Gospel  would 
be  made  vulgar  and  laid  more  open  to  the  laity, 
and  even  to  women. ^ 

All  such  ideas  added  to  Wycliffe's  determi- 
nation to  translate  the  Scriptures.  Details  of 
the  progress  of  the  work  cannot  be  given,  since 
little  is  known  in  regard  to  it.  It  is  generally 
agreed  that  the  translation  appeared  about 
1380.  Wycliffe  translated  the  entire  New 
Testament,  while  in  the  Old  he  had  the  assist- 
ance of  Nicholas  de  Hereford,  a  prominent 
scholar  of  the  time,  who  translated  from  Gen. 
I  to  Baruch  3:20.  In  1388  a  revision  of  it 
was  made  by  Richard  Purvey,  who  wrote  a 
lengthy  prologue  setting  forth  the  care  he  had 
taken  to  make  his  work  as  complete  as  possible. 
This  revision  became,  very  justly,  the  recog- 
nized form  under  which  the  work  of  Wycliffe 
circulated. 

In  estimating  the  value  of  Wycliffe's  work 
and  its  influence  upon  our  English  translation, 
several  facts  must  be  remembered.  It  was 
the  first  translation  which  covered  the  entire 
Bible.  It  was  made  when  English  scholarship 
was  of  a  comparatively  low  standard.  It  was 
made  from  the  Latin,  and  not  from  the  origi- 

*Condit,  62. 

142 


The  English  Translation 

nal  languages  in  which  the  Bible  was  written. 
It  depended  for  its  circulation  upon  manuscript 
copies.  It  had  to  face  the  combined  efforts  of 
the  Roman  Church  for  its  destruction.  Never- 
theless it  had  a  very  extensive  circulation. 
Different  books  were  transcribed  into  little 
volumes,  which  became  the  pocket  companions 
of  those  who  loved  the  Word.  In  many 
places  Wycliffe's  rendering,  after  being  dis- 
carded by  later  translators,  was  again  restored 
by  those  who  prepared  our  authorized  text. 

In  style  and  vocabulary  Wycliffe  appealed 
directly  to  the  people.  Although  his  work 
circulated  only  in  manuscript,  and  during  the 
formative  period  of  English  literature,  so  much 
of  it  has  proved  of  permanent  value  that  he  is 
justly  considered  the  father  of  our  Biblical 
phraseology,  and  his  translation  has  exerted 
a  powerful  influence  on  that  wider  English  lit- 
erature which  has  done  so  much  for  the  intel- 
lectual elevation  of  the  English-speaking  world. 
That  it  did  not  enter  more  visibly  into  the  life 
of  the  succeeding  generation  is  due  not  to  its 
lack  of  value,  but  to  the  bitter  persecution  it 
endured,  and  to  the  fact  that  its  circulation 
depended  on  the  slow  and  expensive  process 
of  copying  with  the  pen. 
143 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Many  manuscripts  remain  to  show  the  char- 
acter of  this  first  English  Bible.  The  New 
Testament  was  published  in  1731  by  Rev. 
John  Lewis,  and  it  has  been  republished  many 
times  since.  The  entire  Bible  was  published 
in  1850,  under  the  editorship  of  Rev.  Josiah 
Forshall  and  Sir  Frederick  Madden,  in  a  crit- 
ical edition  in  four  volumes,  with  a  glossary. 
As  a  specimen  we  give  the  following  from 
Matt.,  8:2,  3.' 

"And  loo!  a  leprouse  man  cummynge  worshipide 
hym,  sayinge;  Lord,  gif  thou  wolt,  thou  maist  make 
me  clene.  And  Jesus  holdynge  forthe  the  hond, 
touchide  hym,  sayinge,  I  wole;  be  thou  maad  clene." 

The  next  forward  movement  brings  us  to 
the  publication  of  the  translation  made  by 
William  Tyndale,  about  a  century  and  a  half 
after  Wycliffe's  work  was  completed.  In  the 
mean  time  the  art  of  printing  has  been  invented, 
a  great  intellectual  revival  has  spread  over 
Europe,  a  spirit  of  personal  manhood  has 
arisen  in  rebellion  against  the  mental  and  spir- 
itual shackles  of  the  papacy,  and  the  religious 
life  of  Christendom  has  been  wonderfully 
stirred  by  the  publication  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  New  Testament  of  Erasmus. 

In  the  midst  of  such  influences  WiUiam  Tyn- 

^Marsh,  346. 


The  English  Translation 

dale  was  born  in  1484,  in  Gloucestershire.  He 
studied  first  at  Oxford  and  then  at  Cambridge. 
At  the  latter  place  he  came  in  contact  with  the 
New  Testament  of  Erasmus.  In  a  quiet  way 
he  began  to  expound  the  Scriptures,  and  this 
soon  impressed  him  with  the  fact  that  nothing 
could  be  done  successfully  for  the  spiritual 
elevation  of  the  people  unless  ''The  Scriptures 
were  plainly  laid  before  their  eyes  in  their 
mother-tongue  that  they  might  see  the  proc- 
ess, order,  and  meaning  of  the  text."^ 

After  leaving  Cambridge  we  find  him  as 
tutor  in  the  family  of  Sir  John  Walsh,  and 
afterward  in  London,  where  he  seems  to  have 
begun  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament. 
Then  he  goes  in  1524  to  Hamburg,  where  he 
had  the  help  of  an  unknown  friend,  perhaps 
John  Fryth  the  Martyr,  and  later  of  William 
Roy.  While  here  he  probably  finished  his 
translation  of  Matthew  and  Mark.  In  April, 
152$,  we  find  him  in  Cologne,  with  Royce, 
where  he  arranged  with  Peter  Quentel  to  print 
secretly  the  New  Testament,  on  which  he  had 
been  laboring.  Eighty  -  four  sheets  were 
printed  when  Colchaeus,  an  emissary  of  the 
Roman   Church,    betrayed    him.      He    hastily 

^Anderson,  42. 

HS 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

gathered  up  his  manuscripts  and  what  he  could 
of  the  printed  copies,  and  went  to  Worms, 
where,  without  further  disturbance,  he  pub- 
hshed  two  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  of 
three  thousand  copies  each,  a  quarto  with  a 
prologue,  and  an  octavo  with  an  epistle  to 
the  reader.  In  preparing  this  edition  he  used 
the  second  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament  of 
Erasmus.  This  was  in  1525,  only  three  years 
after  Luther's  German  New  Testament  ap- 
peared.^ 

A  revised  edition  of  the  New  Testament 
was  published  at  Antwerp  in  1534,  the  print- 
ing being  done  by  that  prince  of  Bible  printers, 
Marten  Emperower.  To  this  edition  Tyndale 
added  many  passages  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  were  read  in  the  church  services 
of  the  Christian  year.  In  1530  or  153 1  he 
published  his  first  edition,  in  folio,  of  the 
Pentateuch,  to  which  he  soon  afterward  added 
the  book  of  Jonah.  In  1534  a  second  edition 
of  the  Pentateuch  was  issued,  embodying 
many  changes.  He  also  left  in  manuscript  a 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament  from  Joshua 
to  the  end  of  Second  Chronicles. 

Just  as  the  third  edition  of  his  New  Testa- 

^Dore,  21. 

146 


The  English  Translatlorl 

ment  was  coming  from  the  press  he  was 
arrested,  and  on  Friday,  October  6,  1536,  he 
was  strangled  and  burnt  at  the  stake.  His 
last  words  were,  ''Lord,  open  the  King  of 
England's  eyes." 

Thus  do  we  see  that  the  first  EngHsh  Bible 
had  to  seek  a  place  of  publication  in  a  foreign 
land,  and  that  the  man  who  translated  and 
gave  it  to  his  countrymen  died  as  a  martyr. 
We  may  judge  how  radical  were  the  measures 
taken  to  destroy  Tyndale's  work  when  we 
know  that  of  the  original  quarto  edition  only 
a  part  of  one  copy,  covering  the  prologue 
and  Matthew's  Gospel  up  to  Chapter  22  :i2,  is 
now  known  to  be  in  existence,  while  the  only 
perfect  copy  of  the  octavo  edition  is  preserved 
in  the  library  of  the  Baptist  College  at  Bris- 
tol, England.  Of  several  other  editions  not  a 
single  copy  remains.^ 

After  the  death  of  Tyndale  his  New  Testa- 
ment continued  to  have  a  wide  circulation.  In 
the  very  year  of  his  death  a  folio  edition  was 
printed  in  England.  Dore  mentions  forty 
editions  issued  before  1556. 

It  is  not  easy  to  state  the  effect  of  Tyndale's 
version  on  the  effort   to  provide  an    English 

^Condit,  102. 

H7 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

translation  of  the  Bible,  to  which  it  was  such 
a  notable  contribution.  It  is  not  only  the 
first  translation  which  obtained  a  general  cir- 
culation through  printing,  but  it  is  first  also  in 
character.  It  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
subsequent  translations. 

Many  reasons  might  be  given  for  the  phe- 
nomenal success  which  attended  his  effort. 

He  had  the  version  of  Wycliffe,  with  its 
keen  spiritual  appreciation  of  the  truth,  of 
which  he  made  great  use. 

He  had  also  Luther's  German  version, 
which  had  so  recently  been  issued.  Whether 
he  ever  actually  consulted  with  Luther  or  not 
is  hard  to  decide,  but  that  he  made  frequent 
use  of  Luther's  New  Testament  no  one  will 
question  who  will  compare  the  two. 

He  was  himself  an  independent  scholar. 
His  knowledge  of  Greek  is  seen  in  his  transla- 
tions of  the  Greek  classics,  and  his  hearty 
appreciation  of  the  new  intellectual  quickening 
which  grew  out  of  the  renewed  study  of  the 
Greek  language.  In  his  imprisonment  he 
pleads  for  his  Hebrew  lexicon,  Bible,  and 
grammar,  that  he  may  beguile  the  tedious 
monotony  by  a  critical  study  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. Van  dem  Busche,  Hebrew  professor 
148 


The  English  Translation 

at  Marburg  at  the  time,  says  he  was  so  skilled 
in  seven  languages — Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
ItaHan,  Spanish,  English,  and  German — that 
whichever  he  might  be  speaking  you  would 
think  it  was  his  native  language/ 

Added  to  all  other  advantages,  and  per- 
haps more  than  all  others,  was  the  character 
of  his  own  spiritual  life.  From  boyhood  his 
one  desire  had  been  to  see  the  Scriptures 
translated  into  the  language  of  the  common 
people.  To  accomplish  this  he  labored  through 
life;  for  this  he  died  at  the  stake.  And 
although  he  did  not  live  to  see  the  translation 
completed,  he  did  so  much  toward  it,  and  did 
it  so  well,  that  he  must  ever  remain  one  of 
the  most  prominent  of  that  self-sacrificing 
company  who  have  contributed  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  our  English  Bible.  Nothing  more 
is  needed  to  prove  the  value  of  Tyndale's 
work  than  the  fact  that  so  many  of  his  render- 
ings have  been  retained  in  our  authorized  and 
revised  versions.  Sooner  than  he  thought,  his 
life-long  prayer  was  answered,  for  during  the 
year  of  his  martyrdom  the  King  of  England 
gave  permission  to  print  the  Bible  in  Eng- 
land,  and  the  presses  of  London  combined 

^Mombert,  io6. 

149 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

with  those  of  Antwerp  and  Germany  in  furnish- 
ing the  Gospel  to  the  multitudes. 

The  death  of  Tyndale,  and  the  removal  of 
the  obstacles  to  printing  the  Bible  in  England, 
mark  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  great  activity 
in  Bible  translation.  During  the  next  seventy 
years  (15 3 5- 1606)  we  have  no  less  than  six 
different  issues,  each  having  its  characteristic 
value,  and  marking  an  advance  on  its  prede- 
cessors.    These  are  as  follows: 

I.    MYLES   COVERDALE 

Of  these  the  translation  of  Myles  Cover- 
dale  stands  first.  To  him  belongs  the  honor 
of  issuing  the  first  complete  printed  English 
Bible.  Wycliffe  had  translated  the  entire 
Bible,  with  the  help  of  Hereford,  nearly  two 
hundred  years  before,  but  it  was  not  printed. 
Tyndale  had  seen  the  New  Testament  and 
part  of  the  Old  printed,  but  did  not  live  to 
complete  the  whole  Bible.  Coverdale  came 
when  king  and  clergy  saw  it  was  useless  to 
attempt  to  stop  the  people  from  reading  the 
Bible,  but  while  yet  the  hostility  to  the  trans- 
lations of  Wycliffe  and  Tyndale  was  so  bitter 
as  to  interfere  with  their  circulation.  Hence, 
with  the  freedom  to  publish  arose  the  demand 
150 


The  English  Translation 

for  a  translation  which  the  authorities  would 
accept.  To  prepare  this,  Myles  Covcrdale  was 
chosen.  He  was  born  in  Yorkshire  in  1488, 
studied  at  Cambridge,  became  a  priest  in  1 5  14, 
was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  newer  learning, 
accepted  the  evangelical  ideas  which  were 
being  taught,  and  seems  to  have  given  special 
attention  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  in  his 
early  life.  We  know  little  of  the  details  of 
his  life  until  about  the  time  his  Bible  was  first 
published,  October  4,  1535. 

His  first  edition  bore  on  the  title-page  the 
following  inscription:  ''BibHa.  The  Bible,  that 
is  the  holy  Scripture  of  the  Olde  and  New 
Testament,  faithfully  translated  out  of  Douche 
and  Latyn  in  to  Englishe.  MDXXXV."  It 
was  not  printed  in  England,  but  either  in 
Antwerp,*  where  he  had  very  intimate  rela- 
tions with  the  famous  printer  Jacob  van 
Meteren,  or  perhaps  at  Cologne  or  Zurich.^ 
But  the  printed  sheets  were  sent  to  England, 
and  there  bound  and  sold  freely.  The  next 
edition,  in  1537,  was  printed  in  England,  and 
had  on  the  title-page,  ''Newly  ouersene  and 
corrected."     At  the  foot  of  the  title-page  we 

*Dore,  91. 
'Mombert,  152. 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

read,  ''Sett  forth  wyth  the  kynges  moost  gra- 
cious Hcense."  This  is  the  beginning  of  the 
"royal  authority"  for  printing  the  Bible.  In 
1538  he  issued  three  editions  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, containing  his  English  version  and  the 
Vulgate  in  parallel  columns.  It  was  based 
on  Tyndale,  with  many  suggestions  from 
Luther.  Other  editions  of  his  Bible  were 
printed  in  1539,  1550,  1553 — five  in  all. 

This  work  of  Coverdale  does  not  profess  to 
be  made  from  the  original  languages.  On  the 
title-page  of  the  first  edition  he  says,  "Faith- 
fully translated  out  of  Douche  and  Latyn." 
The  evidence  of  his  use  of  Luther  is  seen 
everywhere.  When  he  differs  from  Tyndale 
the  variation  can  almost  always  be  explained 
by  a  reference  to  the  Vulgate  or  to  the  Ger- 
man. In  the  dedication  of  his  version  to  the 
king  he  speaks  of  having  used  five  sundry 
interpreters,  but  it  is  uncertain  to  what  he 
refers. 

A  great  interest  centers  around  that  part  of 
Coverdale' s  translation  of  the  Old  Testament 
which  had  not  been  prepared  by  Tyndale  him- 
self. Here  one  is  attracted  by  the  many  ex- 
quisite renderings  which  have  become  dear  to 
the  Christian  heart,  and  which  first  appeared 
152 


The  English  Translation 

in  this  version.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the 
Psalms,  which  have  been  preserved  in  the  ren- 
dering of  Coverdale  in  the  English  Prayer 
Book  almost  word  for  word.  While,  there- 
fore, his  work  was  not  in  the  line  of  original 
study  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  yet  his  pains- 
taking fidelity  and  his  earnest  spirituality 
found  expression  in  language  which  has  be- 
come embedded  in  our  choicest  religious  vocab- 
ulary. About  three-fourths  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament first  appeared  in  English  in  Coverdale's 
version,  and  his  improved  rendering  of  many 
passages  gives  his  work  a  permanent  value. 

2.    THOMAS    MATTHEW 

About  the  same  time  that  Coverdale's  sec- 
ond edition  came  from  the  press,  1537, 
appeared  a  folio  volume  containing  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  with  the  name  of  Thomas 
Matthew  as  editor.  There  is  no  indication  as 
to  the  place  of  printing,  but  the  publishers 
were  Grafton  and  Whitechurch  of  London,  as 
indicated  by  the  letters  R.G.  and  E.W. 

Much  discussion  has  centered  on  the  name 
of  this  editor,  Thomas  Matthew.  No  such 
person  is  known,  and  it  is  now  generally  con- 
ceded that  the  name  was  chosen  to  conceal  the 
153 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

real  editor.  In  the  preface  the  letters  J.  R. 
occur.  This  has  led  to  the  conviction  that  the 
editor  was  none  other  than  John  Rogers,  Tyn- 
dale's  intimate  friend,  to  whom  he  gave  his 
papers,  and  who  was  afterward  burned  at  the 
stake  at  Smithfield.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Oxford,  a  leader  in  the  reformatory  move- 
ments, lived  some  years  in  Antwerp,  where  he 
became  very  closely  associated  with  Tyndale 
and  Coverdale,  came  back  to  England  during 
the  reign  of  Edward  VI,  and  was  one  of  the 
victims    of   the    bloody    Mary    in    February, 

1555.' 

This  edition  of  Matthew  contains  almost 
nothing  original,  and  yet  a  very  great  interest 
centers  in  it.  It  is  almost  a  literal  reprint  of 
Tyndale,  supplemented  by  that  of  Coverdale. 
The  only  part  for  which  the  editor  seems  in 
any  way  responsible  is  the  Apochryphal  Book, 
Prayer  of  Manasses,  which  he  translated  from 
the  French  of  DeWingle,  or  Olivetan.  Of  the 
French  translation  recently  issued  he  made 
much  use. 

Our  interest  in  the  work  grows  out  of  its 
relation  to  its  predecessors.  Tyndale's  trans- 
lation had   been   especially  obnoxious  to  the 

^Moulton,  124. 


The  English  Translation 

authorities  both  of  church  and  state.  They 
were  determined  to  suppress  it.  To  this  end 
they  bought  up  entire  editions  and  burned 
them.  They  caused  the  translator,  although 
living  in  a  foreign  land,  to  be  arrested, 
strangled,  and  burned  because  he  had  pub- 
lished it.  They  forbade  the  people  to  read  it, 
under  severe  penalties.  They  passed  laws  and 
preached  solemn  sermons  to  restrain  its  circu- 
lation. But  scarcely  had  the  author  given  his 
life,  when  a  translation  almost  identical  with 
that  for  which  he  died  was  published  under 
another  name,  and  the  king  gives  his  authority 
for  printing  and  circulating  it,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  says  it  is  the  best  translation  he 
has  seen,  and  hopes  it  may  be  read  by  the 
people,  and  the  chief  counselor  of  the  king, 
Cromwell,  bids  it  Godspeed.  So  the  work  for 
which  Tyndale  died  was,  two  years  later,  pub- 
lished in  England  by  the  authority  of  the  king. 
This  work  of  Matthew  was  much  improved 
in  the  several  editions  published  in  1538,  1549, 
and  155  I,  and  became  a  prominent  factor  in 
all  subsequent  translations  until  our  present 
text  was  established. 


155 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

3.    RICHARD    TAVERNER 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  second 
edition  of  the  Matthew's  Bible,  in  1539,  Rich- 
ard Taverner  edited  a  Bible,  consisting  largely 
of  a  revision  of  that  of  Matthew,  but  omitting 
most  of  his  notes  and  containing  new  intro- 
ductory matter.  He  made  comparatively  few 
changes  in  the  text,  substituting  what  he  con- 
sidered better  readings  from  other  writers. 
He  was  one  of  the  great  Greek  scholars  of  the 
time,  and  made  good  use  of  his  knowledge  in 
his  emendations  of  the  New  Testament.  In 
the  Old  Testament  he  leans  strongly  on  the 
Vulgate.  His  work  shows  a  lack  of  that  calm 
judgment  which  is  necessary  for  a  sound  trans- 
lator, and  although  it  was  allowed  to  be  read 
in  the  churches,  it  had  but  a  limited  circula- 
tion, and  did  not  contribute  materially  to  the 
advancement  of  the  great  work  of  securing  a 
permanent  translation. 

4.    THE    GREAT   BIBLE 

Neither   the    church    nor    state    authorities 
would  become  reconciled  to  the  existing  trans- 
lations, although  they  had  at  last  sanctioned 
their  publication.     A  new  edition  was  there- 
156 


The  English  Translation 

fore  prepared  under  their  own  supervision, 
Cromwell  himself  being  the  leading  spirit  in 
the  movement.  In  order  to  secure  better  work 
than  could  be  done  in  England,  Cromwell  ob- 
tained from  the  French  king  permission  to 
have  the  printing  done  in  Paris,  but  before  it 
was  completed  the  church  became  alarmed, 
and  the  French  inquisitor-general  ordered  the 
work  to  cease,  the  printed  copies  to  be  de- 
stroyed, and  the  workmen  to  be  imprisoned. 
Much  had  already  been  sent  to  England  before 
the  work  was  stopped,  and  Cromwell  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  copies  which  had  been  confis- 
cated, p^urchased  the  printing  outfit,  and 
brought  out  the  edition  in  London  in  1539. 
In  size  it  exceeded  all  the  editions  which  pre- 
ceded it,  its  pages  being  fifteen  inches  long, 
and  nearly  ten  inches  wide.^  This  gave  occa- 
sion for  the  name  ''The  Great  Bible,"  which 
is  given  to  all  the  editions  issued  under  the 
arrangement  introduced  by  Cromwell.  Every 
parish  was  ordered  to  place  a  copy  in  the 
church,  where  the  people  could  use  it,  and  it 
was  eagerly  read  by  all  classes. 

For  this  first  edition  Cromwell  plainly  de- 
serves the  credit.      He  secured  from  the  king 

^Dore,  155. 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

the  royal  patent  for  its  publication.  He  ob- 
tained permission  to  print  it  in  Paris,  and  when 
trouble  arose,  brought  the  entire  outfit  to 
London,  and  insisted  on  having  the  mechan- 
ical structure  embrace  the  finest  results  of  the 
printer's  art.  After  Cromwell's  death,  when 
a  new  edition  was  called  for  in  1540,  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer  wrote  for  it  an  elaborate  pro- 
logue, and  became  greatly  interested  in  its 
circulation.  Hence  all  the  issues  of  this  series 
are  often  called  Cranmer's  Bibles,  but  the  idea 
did  not  originate  with  him,  and  he  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  first  edition.  The  work  became 
very  popular,  and  many  large  editions  were 
published,  the  last  folio  in  1568,  and  the  last 
quarto  in  1569.* 

The  literary  part  of  the  work  was  under  the 
supervision  of  Myles  Coverdale,  who  seems  to 
have  had  the  assistance  of  others,  but  their 
names  are  not  given.  On  the  title-page  it 
says,  ''Truly  translated  after  the  veryte  of  the 
Hebrue  and  Greke  textes  by  the  dylygent 
studye  of  dyuerse  excellent  learned  men  ex- 
perte  in  the  forsayde  tongues." 

It  may  be  called  an  eclectic  edition.  It 
is    a    revision   of    Tyndale,    Coverdale,    and 

»Dore,  187. 

158 


The  English  Translation 

Matthew's  earlier  versions,  compared  with  the 
original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  the  German  of 
Luther,  and  the  Swiss  theologians  at  Zurich, 
the  new  Latin  translation  of  the  Old  Testament 
made  by  Pagninus  and  Miinster,  and  the 
Latin  translation  of  the  New  Testament  by- 
Erasmus.  The  influence  of  Luther  and  Miin- 
ster is  quite  manifest.^  This  version  plainly 
shows  the  care  with  which  Coverdale  did  his 
work,  as  there  are  many  changes  in  each  suc- 
cessive edition,  not  all  of  which  are  improve- 
ments. The  rendering  of  the  Psalms  of  this 
issue,  being  largely  a  reprint  of  Coverdale's 
earlier  version,  has  passed  into  the  Episcopal 
Prayer  Book,  and  is  highly  prized  for  its 
melody.  A  special  feature  of  the  ''Great 
Bible"  is  the  supplementary  readings,  en- 
closed in  brackets,  by  which  he  thought  to 
make  the  sense  plainer. 

5.    THE   GENEVA   BIBLE 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
Vni  the  Papal  influence  became  more  prom- 
inent, and  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures 
almost  ceased.  The  Great  Bible  was  the  only 
one  whose  reading  was  permitted,  and  around 

*Mombert,  209. 

159 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

that  restrictions  were  thrown  which  almost 
prohibited  its  use.  With  Edward  VI  a  new 
impulse  was  given,  and  many  new  editions 
were  put  forth,  but  no  new  versions  were 
made.  Edward  was  followed  by  Mary,  whose 
rabid  Romanism  showed  itself  in  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  public  reading  of  the  Bible,  the 
burning  of  the  reformers,  and  the  destruction 
of  existing  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  During 
the  five  years  of  her  reign  no  Bible  or  Testa- 
ment was  published  in  England.^  Learned 
men,  especially  those  of  reformed  tendencies, 
fled  to  the  Continent,  and  there  waited  in 
prayerful  patience  for  a  better  day. 

Of  these  religious  exiles,  a  company  con- 
sisting of  several  hundred  had  gathered  at 
Geneva.  Among  them  were  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  scholars  of  England.  Geneva 
was  at  this  time  a  center  of  sacred  learning. 

No  less  than  three  great  translations  of  the 
Bible,  the  French,  Italian,  and  English,  were 
being  made  there.  Among  the  most  prom- 
inent of  the  English  colony  were  William 
Wittingham,  who  had  married  a  sister  of  John 
Calvin,  and  Myles  Coverdale.  They  deter 
mined  to  prepare  an   English  Bible  of  more 

^Moulton,  153. 

160 


The  English  Translation 

moderate  size  and  cost,  more  accurate  in  its 
renderings,  and  accompanied  with  a  brief  com- 
mentary and  such  explanatory  statements  as 
were  needed  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
text. 

The  New  Testament  appeared  June  lO, 
1557,  with  an  introduction  written  by  Calvin. 
Wittingham  is  supposed  to  have  done  most  of 
the  work  of  translating.  Besides  the  more 
favorable  size  and  notes  it  had  the  additional 
advantage  of  being  printed  in  Roman  type, 
and  also  of  having  the  chapters  and  verses 
indicated  as  they  are  in  the  Bibles  of  our  day. 
It  does  not  depart  largely  from  Tyndale,  but 
has  many  readings  from  Coverdale  and  fre- 
quent references  to  Beza.  It  presents  also 
many  various  readings.  The  changes  gener- 
ally indicate  an  improved  scholarship. 

The  entire  Bible  appeared  in  1560,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  same  scholars,  most  of 
whom  returned  to  England  on  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth,  while  Wittingham  and  one  or 
two  others  remained  in  Geneva  until  the  work 
was  printed.  In  this  the  New  Testament 
shows  many  changes  from  the  edition  of 
1557.  The  expense  of  this  first  Bible  was 
borne  by  the  English  congregation  then  liv- 
161 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ing  in  Geneva,  and  great  pains  were  taken  to 
make  it  as  complete  as  possible.  Various 
readings  were  added  in  the  margin,  words  in 
the  text,  but  not  in  the  original,  were  put  in 
italics,  proper  names  were  spelled  more  in  har- 
mony with  the  original,  and  many  other  ver- 
sions were  consulted.  The  influence  of  Beza 
on  the  text  and  of  Calvin  on  the  notes  is  very 
pronounced.  The  result  was  a  version  which 
ranks  very  high  as  a  literary  product,  but  is 
somewhat  partial  in  its  comments. 

This  Geneva  Bible  at  once  obtained  an  im- 
mense circulation.  From  1560  to  16 16  not  a 
\f  year  passed  without  a  new  edition.  In  1599 
no  less  than  ten  editions  were  issued.  The 
last  editions  in  England  were  the  quarto  of 
161 5  and  the  folio  of  16 16.  Besides  these, 
many  editions  were  printed  in  Amsterdam, 
from  which  city  150,000  copies  were  imported 
after  the  printing  of  it  ceased  in  England.^ 
The  first  Bible  printed  in  Scotland,  in  1562, 
was  a  copy  of  this  version. 

6.    THE   bishop's    bible 

The   circulation   of   the   English   Bible  was 
now  confined  to  the  two  great  editions  known 

^Dore,  203, 

162 


The  English  Translation 

as  "The  Great  Bible"  and  ''The  Geneva 
Bible."  Neither  of  these  proved  entirely 
satisfactory.  The  Geneva  Bible  had  strong 
anti-Episcopal  and  Calvinistic  tendencies; 
the  Great  Bible  had  many  grave  defects  in  its 
renderings,  which  made  it  unpopular.  This 
led  to  a  demand,  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities,  for  a  new  translation  in  which  both 
these  defects  might  be  remedied.  Archbishop 
Matthew  Parker  of  Canterbury  took  the  mat- 
ter in  hand,  and  finally  succeeded  in  produ- 
cing what  is  known  as  the  Bishop's  Bible.  On 
account  of  Parker's  leadership  it  is  often  called 
' ' The  Parker  Bible. "  It  is  also  called  ' 'Queen 
Elizabeth's  Bible,"  because  it  is  the  only  new 
version  issued  during  her  reign. ^ 

Parker's  plan  was  to  divide  the  Bible  into 
sections,  and  assign  one  of  these  to  a  Bishop 
or  other  leading  scholar,  who  was  to  make  a 
careful  translation,  and  this  was  to  be  again 
subject  to  a  revision  by  the  Archbishop  him- 
self. About  twenty  different  persons  were 
thus  employed,  three-fourths  of  whom  were 
Bishops.  He  thought  in  this  way  to  produce 
a  version  free  from  party  spirit  and  fairly 
representative  of  the  scholarship  of  the  day. 

^Condit,  275, 

J63 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  a  large  major- 
ity of  his  co-laborers  belonged  to  the  house  of 
Bishops. 

His  instructions  were  to  follow  the  common 
English  translation  used  in  the  churches  (the 
Great  Bible),  except  where  the  Hebrew  or 
Greek  required  a  change,  to  make  no  bitter 
notes,  and  not  to  attempt  to  decide  any  con- 
troverted questions.  They  were  also  to  consult 
carefully  the  new  Latin  translation  of  Miinster, 
to  indicate  such  passages  as  contained  genealo- 
gies and  other  unedifying  matter,  so  that  the 
reader  might  pass  over  them  if  he  chose,  and 
to  substitute  more  pleasing  terms  for  such  as 
might  be  deemed  objectionable  for  pubHc 
reading. 

After  more  than  four  years  the  first  edition 
appeared  in  1568.  It  was  a  large  folio,  ele- 
gantly printed,  and,  besides  the  text,  contained 
a  large  number  of  copper-plate  engravings  and 
maps,  brief  notes,  a  preface  by  Archbishop 
Parker,  and  the  prologue  which  Cranmer  pre- 
fixed to  the  Great  Bible.  A  strenuous  effort 
was  made  to  have  it  take  the  place  of  ail  pre- 
ceding translations.  Convocation  in  1571 
ordered  that  every  Bishop  should  place  a  copy 
in  his  dining-room  for  the  benefit  of  liis  ser- 
164 


The  English  Translation 

vants.  A  copy  was  also  to  be  placed  in  every 
cathedral,  and  as  far  as  possible  in  every 
church.  On  the  title-page  of  an  edition  in 
1574  we  read,  ''Set  foorth  by  aucthoritie," 
although  it  does  not  say  by  whose  authority. 
In  this  way  the  Bishop's  Bible  was  introduced 
into  the  public  service  of  the  church,  taking 
the  place  of  the  Great  Bible,  but  the  Geneva 
Bible  was  the  Bible  of  the  home,  the  favorite 
of  all  those  who  did  not  hold  the  extreme 
churchly  views  then  agitated.  Many  editions 
were  issued,  the  last  in  1606.  The  successive 
editions  were  revised,  so  that  between  the  first 
and  the  last  editions  there  is  a  very  great  dif- 
ference in  the  rendering  of  the  text. 

We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  this  ver- 
sion proved  no  more  satisfactory  than  those 
which  preceded  it — in  fact,  was  in  some 
respects  less  satisfactory.  Work  done  by  so 
many  different  men  would  show  great  inequal- 
ity. Being  so  largely  the  work  of  the  Bishops, 
it  failed  to  satisfy  the  independent  element. 
Westcott^  says  there  is  little  to  recommend  the 
original  readings  of  the  Bishop's  Bible  in 
the  Old  Testament;  in  the  New  Testament  the 
translation  shows  more  vigor  and  value,   the 

»Hist.  of  the  Eng.  Bible,  310. 

165 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Greek  scholarship  of  the  Bishops  being  superior 
to  their  knowledge  of  Hebrew. 

7.    THE   AUTHORIZED    VERSION 

When  James  I  became  King  he  found  Eng- 
land in  a  great  turmoil,  the  Puritans  and  the 
Church  of  England  parties  being  in  a  bitter 
contest  for  the  supremacy.  A  conference 
summoned  by  the  King  met  January  14-16, 
1604,  at  which  the  two  parties  presented  their 
grievances  before  him.  At  this  conference 
the  subject  of  a  new  translation  was  presented, 
the  King  and  both  parties  agreeing  that  such 
a  work  ought  to  be  undertaken.  On  the 
twenty-second  of  July,  in  the  same  year,  the 
King  announced  that  he  had  chosen  fifty-four 
translators,  who  were  to  be  divided  into  six 
companies,  two  of  which  were  to  meet  at 
Oxford,  two  at  Cambridge,  and  two  at  West- 
minster. Fifteen  rules  were  drawn  up  for  the 
conduct  of  the  work.  The  Bishop's  Bible  was 
to  be  followed,  except  when  the  Hebrew  or 
Greek  called  for  a  change.  The  old  spelling 
of  proper  names  and  ecclesiastical  terms  must 
be  retained.  No  marginal  notes  were  to  be 
inserted,  except  in  explanation  of  a  Hebrew 
or  Greek  word.  Each  man  of  a  company 
166 


The  English  Translation 

must  first  translate  a  passage,  then  his  work 
must  be  revised  by  the  company  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  finally  sent  to  the  other  com- 
panies for  further  scrutiny.  The  whole  Bible 
was  then  to  be  reviewed  by  a  company  of  six, 
or  perhaps  twelve,  who  gave  nine  months  to 
their  revision. 

Seven  years  were  thus  consumed,  and  in 
i6ii  the  new  version  was  published.  It  was 
a  folio  edition  in  black  letter,  having  the  well- 
known  dedication  to  the  King  and  a  very 
lengthy  translator's  preface,  which  fortunately 
is  never  published  in  later  editions.  It  cannot 
now  be  shown  that  the  new  version  ever  had 
any  "authority"  given  it,  although  it  is  so 
stated  on  the  title-page.  It  had  to  make  its 
way  on  its  own  merits,  and  for  a  generation 
had  a  formidable  rival  in  the  Geneva  Bible, 
which  continued  to  be  the  popular  favorite. 

Although  the  Bishop's  Bible  was  the  stand- 
ard, the  revisers  adhered  far  more  closely  to 
the  Geneva  version.  When  published, 
although  the  Roman  Catholics  denounced  it 
because  of  its  Protestant  proclivities,  and  the 
High  Church  party  was  not  satisfied  with  it, 
its  sterling  value  finally  gave  it  the  supremacy, 
which  it  has  retained  ever  since.  Occasional 
167 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

attempts  have  been  made  to  correct  its  mani- 
fest defects,  and  numerous  so-called  revised 
editions  have  been  issued.  Very  many  private 
translations  have  been  made,  some  of  them 
having  great  literary  merit,  but  none  of  them 
seriously  interfering  with  its  use  among  all 
English-speaking  Christians. 

Not  until  the  elaborate  revision  of  1884 
have  any  such  efforts  made  a  lasting  impres- 
sion. The  revised  Bible  then  published  by 
the  large  company  of  English  and  American 
scholars  contains  many  changes,  the  most  of 
which  are  manifestly  improvements,  and  de- 
serve the  attention  of  those  who  seek  an 
accurate  rendering  of  the  original.  The  ad- 
vance in  every  department  of  Biblical  knowl- 
edge has  made  it  possible  to  introduce  changes 
which  throw  light  on  many  obscure  passages, 
and  thereby  render  still  more  useful  the  Book 
which  for  nearly  three  centuries  has  been  dear 
to  us,  both  for  its  beauty  and  its  fidelity. 

It  remains  to  say  a  few  words  about  the 
efforts  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  provide  an 
English  Bible  for  use  among  their  own  mem- 
bers. Against  all  the  work  so  far  described 
they  have  maintained  a  constant  and  bitter 
168 


The  English  Translation 

opposition,  which  has  been  directed  not  only 
against  the  versions,  but  against  the  persons 
who  made  them.  And  they  have  never  made 
any  effort  to  provide  a  better  one  until  they 
were  compelled  to  do  so. 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  many 
Romanists  went  to  the  Continent.  Among 
them  was  William  Allen,  afterward  a  Cardinal, 
who  established  a  college  at  Douay  and  another 
at  Rheims.  From  the  latter  place  an  edition 
of  the  New  Testament  was  issued  in  1582, 
and  twenty-seven  years  later  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  published  at  Douay.  They  admit 
they  do  not  furnish  this  translation  because 
they  think  it  necessary  for  the  people  to  have 
the  Bible  in  their  own  language,  but  because 
of  the  present  necessity,  and  in  pure  compas- 
sion to  their  countrymen  whose  use  of  the 
profane  and  erroneous  Protestant  translations 
then  circulating  were  endangering  their  souls. 
They  used  only  the  Vulgate,  instead  of  the 
original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  because  it  had 
been  pronounced  ''authentic"  by  the  Council 
of  Trent. 

The  man  who  had  most  to  do  with  making 
this  translation  was  Gregory  Martin,  one  of 
the  first  scholars  of  his  day.  But  its  partisan 
169 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

bias  is  so  manifest,  and  its  introduction  of 
Latin  terms  so  frequent,  that  it  has  had  a  very 
limited  circulation,  even  among  those  of  the 
Roman  faith.  Dr.  Nary,  who  published  a 
new  version  in  17 18-19,  says  of  it,  ''The  Lan- 
guage of  it  is  so  old,  the  Words  in  so  many 
places  so  obsolete,  that  in  a  number  of  places 
it  is  unintelligible,  and  all  over  so  grating  to 
the  Ears  of  such  as  are  accustomed  to  speak, 
in  a  manner,  another  Language,  that  most 
people  will  not  be  at  pains  of  reading  them."^ 
The  work  has  been  justly  condemned,  not  so 
much  because  it  is  false  to  the  original,  as 
because  of  its  refusal  to  accept  the  results  of 
the  best  scholarship. 

A  second  edition  of  it  was  issued  in  1635. 
In  1749-50  Richard  Challoner  revised  it,  intro- 
ducing much  of  the  language  of  our  King 
James  version.  This  has  now  generally  taken 
the  place  of  the  original  Rheims  and  Douay 
version,  although  the  old  name  still  clings  to 
it.  The  first  American  edition  of  this  version 
was  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1790,  and  is 
a  reprint  of  Challoner's  second  edition,  with 
the  sanction  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.^ 

^Lewis,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Trans.,  357. 
«Shea,  4. 

170 


The  Hollandish  Translation 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

When  Europe  awoke  from  its  long  intellec- 
tual sleep,  one  of  its  first  thoughts  was  for  the 
Bible.  For  ages  it  had  been  almost  a  forgot- 
ten book.  The  masses  knew  of  it  only  as 
they  heard  portions  of  it  read  in  the  church 
services,  in  a  language  they  could  not  under- 
stand, and  often  by  priests  who  knew  not  the 
meaning  of  the  words  they  repeated.  But 
when  they  began  to  think,  they  recognized  the 
importance  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  long 
before  the  Reformation  was  inaugurated  by 
Luther  and  his  companions,  there  was  a  desire 
for  a  translation  in  a  language  they  could  read 
for  themselves.  Nowhere  was  this  more  mani- 
fest than  in  the  Netherlands.  When  Wessel 
Gansfort,  of  Groningen,  one  of  the  reformers 
before  the  Reformation,  stood  before  Pope 
Nicholas  V,  the  Pope  asked  him  what  he  most 
of  all  desired.  Gansfort  said,  ''Give  me  a 
copy  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  that  I  may  carry  it 
home  to  my  native  land."  "You  silly  fellow!" 
173 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

said  the  Pope,  "why  do  you  not  ask  to  be 
made  Bishop,  or  something  of  that  sort?" 
"For  the  simple  reason,"  said  Gansfort,  "that 
I  have  no  need  of  such  things." 

The  earliest  attempts  to  furnish  the  people 
of  the  Netherlands  with  a  Bible  in  their  own 
language,  of  which  we  have  accurate  knowl- 
edge, were  made  by  the  Waldenses,  who 
turned  parts  of  the  Scripture  into  Low  Dutch 
rhymes,  according  to  the  custom  of  that 
period.  Their  reasons  for  so  doing  are  thus 
given  by  themselves :  "Dat  daerin  was  groote 
nutschap,  no  boerte,  no  fabulen,  no  trufTe,  no 
falserde,  mer  were  worden.  Dat  hier  en  daer 
wel  was  een  herde  coerste,  mer  dat  het  pit 
ende  die  soethit  vangoet  en  selicheit  der  in 
wel  was  te  bekennen."  (That  there  was  great 
advantage  in  it — the  Bible — no  jests,  no  fables, 
no  trifles,  no  deceits,  but  words  of  truth. 
That  indeed  there  was  here  and  there  a  hard 
crust,  but  the  marrow  and  sweetness  of  what 
was  good  and  holy  might  be  easily  discerned 
in  it.y 

Such  writings  existed  very  early  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  perhaps  even  before  1200  A. 
D.,  but  they  can  hardly  be  called  translations 

»Townley,  I,  356.    Brandt,  I,  Book  I. 
174 


The  Hollandlsh  Translation 

of  the  Bible.  They  were  rather  paraphrases 
of  such  portions  of  the  Scriptures  as  had  ele- 
ments which  met  the  popular  craving  for  the 
truth,  and  were  adapted  to  a  popular  state- 
ment. Being  recited  or  sung  by  those  who  had 
learned  something  of  their  inner  value,  they 
took  strong  hold  of  the  people,  and  did  much 
to  quicken  that  desire  for  the  Word  of  God 
which  afterward  led  to  its  complete  transla- 
tion. Being  made  long  before  the  art  of 
printing  was  discovered,  they  were  not  care- 
fully preserved,  and  we  know  very  little  as  to 
their  exact  contents  or  extent. 

In  1270  Jacob  Van  Maerlandt,  who  has 
been  called  the  father  of  Dutch  literature,  fin- 
ished one  of  these  ''Rijmbijbels,*'  which  was 
very  popular.  It  did  not  contain  all  the  Old 
Testament,  and  only  the  Gospels  of  the  New 
Testament.  He  translated  from  the  Vulgate, 
and  was  influenced  in  his  ideas  very  largely  by 
the  French  theologians  of  the  twelfth  century. 

This  effort  aroused  the  wrath  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Bishop  of  Utrecht,  who  thought  it 
was  disrespectful  to  the  Scriptures  thus  to 
bring  them  within  the  reach  of  the  common 
people,  and  Van  Maerlandt  nearly  lost  his  life 
as  a  reward  for  his  labor. 
175 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

The  following  lines  will  show  the  character 
of  these  writings,  taken  from  Ps.,  130:1 : 

"Van  diepen  Here  wt  mire  herten 
Roep  ic  claghende  mine  smerten." 

Only  a  very  few  fragmentary  copies  of  these 
*'Rijmbijbels"  remain,  and  these  vary  in  the 
use  of  words  and  spelling,  having  all  been 
made  by  hand.^ 

A  prose  translation  of  about  1300  A.D.  is 
also  mentioned,  but  its  author  is  unknown, 
and  its  very  existence  uncertain.^  A  manu- 
script of  1358,  supposed  by  some  to  be  a  copy 
of  this  earliest  prose  translation,  is  made  m 
two  parts.  Part  I  contains  the  Pentateuch, 
Joshua,  Judges,  and  the  four  books  of  Kings. 
These  are  translated  freely  from  the  Vulgate, 
often  omitting  portions  unnecessary,  as  the 
close  of  Ex.,  21.  The  text  is  supplemented 
by  selections  from  the  Historica  Scholastica, 
containing  edifying  remarks,  etc.  Part  II  has 
Tobias,  Daniel,  History  of  Darius  and  Cyrus 
from  the  Scholastica,  Esdras,  Esther,  an 
account  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  history  of 
the  Maccabees,  and  a  treatise  about  Caesar, 
Herod,    etc.,    designed    to    form    a  historical 

^Looman,  i8i. 
''Townley.  I,  420. 

176 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

connection  between  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment. This  was  prepared  in  the  province  of 
Holland,  and  is  very  unequal  in  merit,  but 
clear  and  fluent  in  style. 

The  attempts  at  translation  so  far  described 
are  of  interest  mainly  because  they  tell  us  how 
the  great  work  of  Bible  translation  began. 
Like  everything  intellectual  and  spiritual  of 
that  age,  they  were  childish  and  incomplete, 
and  not  having  the  help  of  the  printer's  art  to 
multiply  and  preserve  them,  they  have  so  com- 
pletely perished  that  hardly  a  fragment  of  them 
remains.  Here  and  there  among  the  great 
libraries  of  Europe  is  a  faded  remnant  which 
has  survived  the  passing  years;  of  all  the  rest 
only  a  shadowy  and  often  unreliable  tradition 
remains.  But  if  the  work  itself  was  tentative 
and  transient,  not  so  the  deep  undercurrent  of 
spiritual  life  quickened  by  their  homely  pres- 
entation. It  was  the  good  seed  of  the  Divine 
Word,  and  when  thus  presented  the  Holy 
Spirit  quickened  it  and  inspired  a  longing  for 
a  more  complete  and  accurate  translation  which 
would  fully  meet  the  aspirations  of  the  soul. 


177 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

II.      EARLY   PRINTED   TRANSLATIONS 

Twenty-five  years  after  the  art  of  printing 
was  introduced,  we  find  what  may  be  called 
the  first  attempt  at  a  real  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  Holland  language.  In  1477 
Jacob  Jacobzoon  and  Maurits  Ymands,  of 
Middelburg,  issued  at  Delft  an  edition  of  the 
Old  Testament,  except  the  Psalms,  which  were 
issued  three  years  later,  translated  from  the 
Vulgate,  and  bearing  the  inscription,  **To  the 
Glory  of  God  and  the  edification  and  instruc- 
tion of  Christ's  believing  people."  Another 
translation  appeared  at  Gouda  in  1479.  -^^^ 
these  were  made  from  the  Vulgate,  and  were 
very  defective.  Along  with  the  text  were 
many  notes  and  references,  sometimes  on  the 
margin  and  sometimes  in  the  text,  but  made 
in  such  a  way  that  a  person  unacquainted  with 
the  original  could  not  tell  what  was  text  and 
what  was  commentary.  They  are  now  of 
interest  chiefly  because  they  show  how  gradu- 
ally the  work  of  translation  has  advanced. 

The  year  15  16  marks  an  era  of  great  inter- 
est in  the  history  of  Bible  translation  in  the 
Netherlands.  At  Antwerp  Nicholaas  de  Grave 
issued  a  Bible,  translated  from  the  Vulgate, 
178 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

and  bearing  on  its  title-page  the  words,  *'Uyt 
den  latynschen  en  walschen  ghetranslateerd." 
(Out  of  the  Latin  and  Walloon  translated.)* 

In  the  same  year  Erasmus,  the  celebrated 
Greek  scholar,  published,  at  Delft,  the  first 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  the 
language  of  the  Netherlands.  This  was  a  very 
great  advance  upon  anything  before  under- 
taken. Hitherto  the  translators  had  been 
content  to  use  the  Vulgate  as  the  basis  of 
their  work,  and  along  with  that  imperfect  text 
had  incorporated  many  notes  of  their  own, 
much  to  the  confusion  of  their  readers.  But 
Erasmus  set  the  example  of  going  to  the  orig- 
inal Greek,  and  gave  nothing  but  a  translation 
of  the  text. 

But  when  Luther's  German  New  Testament 
appeared  in  1523,  it  was  immediately  trans- 
lated into  Dutch  and  published  both  at  Ant- 
werp and  Amsterdam.  This  soon  crowded 
out  the  more  scholarly  work  of  Erasmus,  and 
was  as  eagerly  sought  in  the  Netherlands  as 
it  had  been  in  Germany.  In  1534  the  Old 
Testament,  based  also  on  Luther's  German 
version,  appeared.  In  this  were  notes  criticis- 
ing the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  advocat- 

^Looman,  183. 

179 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

ing  much  greater  freedom  in  the  study  of 
God's  Word.^ 

Ten  years  after  Erasmus  issued  his  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  directly  from  the 
Greek,  on  the  26th  of  September,  1526,  the 
first  entire  Bible  was  issued  at  Antwerp,  by 
Jacob  Liesveldt.  The  translators  are  un- 
known, but  the  work  occupies  a  most  promi- 
nent place  in  the  history  of  Bible  translations 
into  the  Netherlandish  language.  It  was  based 
on  the  work  of  Luther,  so  far  as  that  had 
appeared,  and  the  rest  followed  a  German 
translation  published  at  Cologne  in  1480,  but 
with  the  style  somewhat  improved.  This  old 
German  version  of  Cologne  had  been  published 
by  Henry  Quenstel,  in  folio,  with  illuminated 
capitals  in  the  text,  and  with  marginal  notes, 
by  Nicholaas  de  Lyra.  It  was  colloquial  Ger- 
man, and  could  be  easily  remodeled  so  as  to 
become  intelligible  to  the  Hollanders.^ 

Liesveldt's  Bible  became  very  popular.  The 
first  edition  was  very  inconvenient  in  form, 
and  was  overloaded  with  illustrations,  which 
may  be  called  a  parody  on  art  as  compared 
with   modern   work   in  that  direction;  and  it 

^Looman,  183. 
'Looman,  184. 

180 


The  HoUandish  Translation 

was  far  from  being  accurate  in  its  renderings, 
but  it  soon  obtained  a  very  wide  circulation. 
In  1532  a  second  edition  appeared,  a  third  in 
1534,  a  fourth  in  1536,  a  fifth  in  1538,  and  a 
sixth  in  1542.  This  last  edition  was  provided 
with  marginal  notes,  and  bore  the  following 
title-page:  ''The  Bible,  corrected  with  great 
precision,  and  having  in  the  margin  the  age  of 
the  world,  and  how  long  the  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Bible  occurred  before  Christ ;  and 
having  gathered  out  of  the  Fasciculus  Tem- 
porum  and  out  of  the  Chronicles  of  all  the 
world  the  chief  histories  of  the  mighty  Heathen 
kingdoms  against  which  the  Holy  Scriptures 
frequently  warn  us;  and  lastly  having  cor- 
rected with  great  precision  the  oldest  and 
most  approved  copies  (translations)  which  have 
appeared.  Cum  Gratia  et  Priveligio.  More- 
over the  contents  of  each  chapter  are  given,  as 
well  in  the  Old  as  in  the  New  Testament,  to- 
gether with  some  beautiful  explanations  in  the 
margin  which  have  never  been  given  before. 
Antwerpen,  3  June  1542." 

This  edition  of  June  3,  1542,  soon  became 

the  standard  among  the  Protestants,  even  the 

Lutherans   and   Menonites   using  it  for  many 

years.     There    is    another  fact    which    gives 

181 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

great  prominence  to  this  last  edition  of  Lies- 
veldt's  Bible.  Among  the  marginal  notes  was 
one  on  I  Peter,  2:$,  "Ye  also  as  lively  stones 
are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,"  which  reads, 
"Opten  steen  getimmert  syn,  is  alle  onse  hope 
setten  op  Christum  alleen."  This  was  too 
much  for  Rome.  When  the  first  edition  ap- 
peared injunctions  were  issued  forbidding  any 
one  to  read  it,  and  calling  attention  to  its 
heretical  character.  Nicholaas  van  Whinge 
(Wingh),  a  canon  of  Louvaine,  writing  doubt- 
less under  instructions  from  Rome,  said  of  it, 
"The  first  Dutch  Bible,  published  at  Antwerp 
by  Jacob  Liesveldt,  was  translated  not  from 
the  Latin,  but  from  a  foreign  Bible,  which  had 
been  translated  in  German  by  M.  Luther  and 
some  other  of  his  helpers,  notorious  and 
damned  heretics  of  our  times,  who,  as  they 
are  rejectors  of  the  holy  Church,  have  Ger- 
manized the  Bible  out  of  different  new  transla- 
tions, not  following  the  old  Latin  or  Vulgate 
of  the  universal  Romish  Church,  and  thus 
have  they  in  many  places  stated  things  differ- 
ently from  what  is  contained  in  the  Bible,  and 
have  perverted  the  Holy  Scripture  in  such  a 
way  as  to  support  their  evil  notions."  Pla- 
cards were  issued  condemning  the  heretical 
182 


The  Hollandlsh  Translation 

books  of  Luther  and  others,  and  all  transla- 
tions of  the  Bible  which  leaned  toward  the 
Lutheran  teachings,  or  which  had  marginal 
notes  which  did  not  agree  with  the  Roman 
Church,  and  ordering  them  burned.  This  not 
proving  effectual,  it  was  added  that  any  per- 
son not  complying  with  the  demand  to  burn, 
should  himself  be  burned  at  the  stake.  In 
1 545  Liesveldt  himself  was  seized  and  beheaded 
at  Antwerp  because  he  had  dared  to  insert  in 
his  marginal  notes  that  our  salvation  depends 
on  Christ  alone.  Thus  did  this  noble  work  of 
Bible  translation  receive  its  baptism  of  blood, 
and  as  always  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
the  blood  of  heroic  men  who  do  not  count 
their  own  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  gave 
greater  emphasis  to  the  truth,  and  made  more 
intense  the  desire  and  determination  to  have 
the  word  of  God  in  their  own  language. 

The  martyrdom  of  Liesveldt,  designed  by  his 
enemies  to  secure  the  suppression  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  translation  he  had  made  for  his 
countrymen,  tended  only  to  make  it  more 
precious  to  them.  ''Over  its  pages  they 
sighed  and  wept;  it  was  the  companion  of 
their  solitary  hours,  the  golden  jewel,  cheaply 
gotten  at  the  cost  of  treasure  and  blood." 
183 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

The  most  fearful  threats  of  Rome  had  only  one 
result:  they  read  it  and  loved  it  more  passion- 
ately than  before.  They  would  not  give  it 
up,  even  to  save  their  lives.  Between  1522 
and  1543  more  than  one  hundred  editions  were 
published.^ 

This  edition  of  1542  was  the  instrument 
used  by  God  to  bring  the  saving  knowledge  of 
Christ  to  a  multitude  of  souls  all  through  the 
Netherlands.^ 

The  demand  for  a  translated  Bible  was  now 
so  universal  that  both  Protestants  and  Roman 
Catholics  engaged  in  it.  In  the  interests  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  Nicholaas  van  Whinge, 
of  the  University  of  Louvaine,  prepared  an 
edition  of  the  entire  Bible,  which  he  corrected 
according  to  the  Latin  Vulgate.  This  was 
examined  by  men  appointed  by  the  Emperor 
Charles  V,  and  with  his  endorsement  went 
through  several  editions,  and  became  the 
standard  for  the  Roman  Catholics.' 

The  last  edition  of  Liesveldt  was  revised  in 
1556*  or  1558^  at  Embden,  by  Steven  Mird- 
man  and   Jan   Gaillaert,    who  made  use  of  a 

^Ypeij  en  Dermout,  I,  113. 
•Townley,  II,  63,  65.    Looman,  185. 
=Townley,  II,  362. 
*Townley.    ^Looman. 

184 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

translation  of  Zwinglius,  which  had  been  pub- 
lished at  Zurich  in  1525,  and  at  Magdeburg  in 
1554.  They  used  the  translation  of  Liesveldt 
to  the  end  of  Job,  simply  correcting  the  text 
to  agree  with  that  of  Zwinglius,  and  substitut- 
ing the  text  of  Zwinglius  for  the  rest  of  the 
Bible.      In  this  there  were  no  verse  divisions.^ 

In  1560  Nicholaas  Biestkens  prepared  an 
edition  in  which  the  verses  were  marked,  and 
which  contained  many  marginal  notes.  This 
was  frequently  reissued,  that  of  1646  being  a 
large  folio,  with  a  beautiful  title-page  and 
plates,  forming  a  real  work  of  art.  This  last 
edition  was  issued  at  Antwerp,  at  that  time  a 
great  center  of  Bible  distribution. 

A  still  more  accurate  and  valuable  edition 
was  undertaken  by  Jan  van  Uitenhoven, 
assisted  by  John  a  Lasco,  a  famous  Polish  the- 
ologian who  had  settled  in  Embden.  It  was 
published  at  Embden  in  1565.  This  was 
designed  to  satisfy  those  who  desired  a  more 
Calvanistic  tone  than  Luther's  version  fur- 
nished. Reuss  says  the  New  Testament  of 
this  edition  appeared  in  1556,  and  the  entire 
Bible  in  1562,  little  alteration  being  made  in 
the    Old    Testament.^      It    was    based    upon 

^Looman,  186. 

'504.  _ 

185 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Luther's  German  translation,  compared  with 
that  of  the  French  made  by  Olivetan,  Geneva, 
155 1,  and  soon  gained  general  acceptance 
among  those  who  valued  exactness  of  doc- 
trinal expression.  It  had  no  official  authority 
of  church  or  state,  but  went  through  many 
large  editions,  and  still  continues  in  use  among 
the  Lutherans  of  the  Netherlands,  a  revised 
form  having  been  made  by  A.  Vischer  in  1648. 

In  many  respects  the  translation  of  Uiten- 
hoven  is  superior  to  the  Staten-Bibel,  especially 
in  its  smooth,  flowing  style  and  its  thoroughly 
western  spirit.  It  is  more  like  Luther's  trans- 
lation, and  is  almost  entirely  free  from  anti- 
quated terms. ^ 

As  we  look  over  the  history  of  this  period 
we  see  how  the  demand  for  the  truth  leads  to 
a  more  accurate  translation.  Learned  men, 
full  of  love  for  God's  Word,  gave  themselves 
to  the  most  careful  study,  that  they  might 
furnish  a  better  statement  of  what  God  had 
said.  Every  appliance  of  art  was  consecrated 
to  printing  the  results  of  their  labors.  What 
one  man  had  done  as  the  utmost  of  his  ability 
became  the  stepping  stone  upon  which  another 
mounted    to    a    higher  point   of   observation. 

»Ypeij  en  Dermout,  I,  H.  i,  II,  373, 
186 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

Often  the  life  labor  given  to  a  translation  was 
consecrated  by  martyrdom  when  the  transla- 
tion was  finished.  But  all  the  time  that  truth 
was  sinking  deeper  and  spreading  its  roots 
wider  in  Christian  hearts  which  could  not  be 
satisfied  until  they  could  read  in  their  own 
mother  tongue  the  wonderful  message  of  God 
to  sinful  men. 

III.      TRANSLATIONS   FROM    THE   ORIGINAL 
TEXT 

We  reach  now  the  third  and  crowning  period 
of  the  translations.  At  first  we  find  only  the 
rhymed  paraphrase  of  the  more  popular  parts 
of  the  Scriptures.  Then  come  the  various 
translations  made  from  the  Vulgate  or  from 
the  German  translation  of  Luther.  Except 
the  New  Testament  of  Erasmus,  no  one  has 
yet  ventured  to  go  back  to  the  orginal  Hebrew 
or  Greek  and  translate  directly  from  these 
ancient  and  supreme  authorities. 

But  all  the  revisions  and  new  efforts  so  far 
made  did  not  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  Chris- 
tian people.  They  called  for  a  translation 
which  should  come  directly  from  the  original. 
The  time  for  this  had  at  length  come. 

As  early  as  1571  the  Provincial  Synod  at 
187 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Embden,  in  response  to  a  petition  of  some 
Holland  emigrants  living  at  Cologne,  decided 
that  a  new  translation  ought  to  be  made,  but 
referred  the  matter  to  a  general  synod  of  the 
church.  The  matter  was  again  discussed  at  a 
synod  held  at  Dort  in  1574,  and  again  in  1578; 
but  it  was  not  until  1591  that  a  man  was 
found  for  the  work.^  Philip  de  Marnix,  Lord 
of  St.  Aldegonde,  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  learned  men  of  the  great  Reformation 
period,  had  said,  ''There  is  no  translation  in 
the  evangelical  churches  which  deviates  so 
much  from  the  Hebrew  as  the  translation  of 
Luther,  and  out  of  a  bad  German  translation 
we  have  made  a  worse  Dutch  translation."^ 
Among  his  other  acquirements  he  was  a  great 
Hebrew  scholar.  He  had  already  given  much 
attention  to  a  translation  of  the  Bible ;  and  a 
metrical  version  of  the  Psalms  prepared  by  him 
is  still  much  esteemed  for  its  fidelity  to  the 
orginal  Hebrew  and  for  its  beautiful  language. 
Motley  says  of  him:  ''Scholar,  theologian, 
diplomatist,  swordsman,  orator,  poet,  pamph- 
leteer, he  had  a  genius  for  all  things,  and  was 
eminent  in  all. "    He  began  his  new  translation 

^Heringa,  66. 
'Brandt,  Book  XV. 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

in  September,  1594.  The  States  General 
agreed  to  pay  him  a  yearly  salary  of  1,400 
guilders,  with  300  guilders  more  as  house  rent. 

He  was  to  be  assisted  by  five  ministers,  one 
from  each  provincial  synod.  He  was  to  live 
in  Leyden,  so  as  to  be  near  the  theological 
faculty  and  the  library  of  the  university.  Four 
years  were  spent  in  the  work,  when  it  was  cut 
short  by  his  death,  in  December,  1598.  After 
his  death  the  work  made  very  little  progress, 
until  in  1608,  with  the  death  of  Helmichius, 
one  of  the  helpers  of  Marnix,  it  ceased  alto- 
gether. 

It  may  seem  at  first  as  if  this  failure  was 
greatly  to  be  regretted.  St.  Aldegonde  was 
one  of  the  finest  Hebrew  scholars  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  the  Netherlands  were  then  famous 
for  men  of  great  learning.  He  was  a  stanch 
Calvinist,  a  devoted  patriot,  and  a  sincere 
Christian.  But  he  lacked  that  deep  spiritual 
comprehension  and  grasp  of  the  truth  which 
in  Luther  more  than  compensated  for  his  lack 
of  profound  scholarship.  His  translation 
would  have  been  eminently  scholarly,  but  if  it 
had  failed  to  bring  out  clearly  the  deep  spirit- 
ual feeling  which  pervades  the  Scriptures  it 
would  have  been  found  wanting  in  that  which 
189 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

is  most  vital.  As  it  is,  the  work  done  by  St. 
Aldegonde  was,  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist, 
the  herald  of  a  greater  translation,  which 
would  for  ages  meet  the  highest  spiritual  de- 
mands of  the  people  for  whom  it  was  in- 
tended.^ 

When  the  National  Synod  of  Dordrecht 
convened,  November  13,  16 18,  one  of  the  first 
questions  to  be  considered  was  in  regard  to  a 
new  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  to  be  made 
directly  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  As  soon 
as  an  opportunity  was  given  for  the  delegates 
to  present  communications  from  the  Classes 
which  sent  them,  the  delegates  from  the 
Classes  of  Edam,  Zeeland,  and  Overysel  brought 
before  the  Synod  this  matter  of  a  new  transla- 
tion, which  had  been  before  resolved  upon  and 
begun  but  was  never  finished.  The  judgment  of 
the  Synod  was  that  the  time  had  now  fully 
come  when  such  a  work  should  be  carried  out. 
A  few  indeed  objected.  Heringa^  thus  speaks 
of  them:  *'Hier  komt  bij,  dat  het,  ten  geenen 
tijde,  in  de  Nederlandsche  Hervormde  Kerk, 
ontbrak,  aan  eenvoudige,  kortzigtige,  bevoor- 
oordeelde  menschen,  afkeerig  van  het  nieuwe, 
om  dat  het  niew,  en  boven  mate  gehecht  aan 

^Brandt,  I,  io6,  798,  799- 
»85. 

190 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

het  oude,  om  dat  het  oud  is."  (Add  to  this 
that  at  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  Reformed 
Church  has  it  lacked  in  simple,  short-sighted, 
prejudiced  people,  opposed  to  the  new  because 
it  is  new,  and  in  a  special  manner  attached  to 
the  old  because  it  is  old.)  But  this  spirit  of 
opposition  was  swallowed  up  in  the  resolute 
determination  of  the  great  majority  to  proceed 
with  the  work  of  arranging  the  details  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  long-desired  result.  At  its 
sixth  session  the  Synod  gave  itself  wholly  to 
the  arrangement  of  details  for  conducting  the 
work,  and  continued  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other  subject,  for  the  five  following  sessions. 
The  president,  Jan  Bogerman,  opened  the  ses- 
sion with  a  prayer  in  Latin,  as  remarkable  for 
its  length  as  for  its  beauty  of  expression. 
Huet  says  of  it,  ''The  sweetest  Psalms  of 
Marnix  are  not  more  beautiful  than  the  Latin 
prayer  of  Bogerman."^  He  then  recounted 
the  previous  attempts  to  secure  a  proper  trans- 
lation, and  told  of  their  failure,  and  said  the 
Synod  ought  now  to  give  the  matter  the  most 
serious  attention.  The  delegates  from  Great 
Britain  told  of  the  great  English  translation 
lately  completed,  after  which  the  Holland  pro- 

*Land  von  Rembrandt,  Het  Geloot,  i6. 
191 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

fessors,  ministers,  and  elders  expressed  their 
views  as  to  the  importance  of  the  work  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  done,  and 
finally  the  president  read  a  written  statement 
of  his  own  ideas ;  from  which  it  appeared  that 
they  were  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that 
it  must  be  at  once  undertaken. 

The  Synod  then  proceeded  to  establish  some 
general  regulations  in  regard  to  the  work. 

First  of  all,  they  decided  that  the  translators 
should  adhere  always  to  the  original  text. 
(Ut  originali  textui  semper  religiose  adhaer- 
eant.)  And  if  they  added  any  words  to  make 
the  sense  plainer,  they  were  to  enclose  every 
such  word  in  brackets  that  the  reader  might 
know  it  was  not  a  part  of  the  original  text. 
When  the  Dutch  idiom  would  not  admit  of  a 
literal  rendering  they  were  to  give  the  literal 
meaning  in  the  margin. 

The  Apocryphal  books  should  also  be 
translated,  but  with  less  care,  be  printed  in 
smaller  type,  and  have  a  warning  preface  and 
polemic  notes  to  show  they  were  only  human 
productions.  They  were  also  to  be  placed, 
not  between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
but  at  the  end  of  the  New  Testament.  As 
for  certain  apocryphal  New  Testament  books, 
192 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

which  had  found  a  place  in  some  of  the  old 
translations,  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  that 
they  should  be  entirely  excluded.^ 

After  a  long  and  very  animated  discussion 
as  to  whether  the  translators  should  use  the 
pronoun  Du,  after  the  German  custom  of 
Luther,  or  Gij,  when  addressing  the  Deity, 
they  decided,  by  a  bare  majority,  to  use 
Gij  and  U.  As  for  the  Hebrew,  Jehovah, 
it  was  decided  that  it  should  be  translated 
**Heere,'*  unless  some  special  use  of  the  term 
rendered  the  use  of  ''Jehovah"  necessary. 

These  preliminaries  being  settled,  the 
Synod,  having  rejected  a  resolution  that  the 
work  of  translating  the  Old  Testament  be 
entrusted  to  a  professor  of  Hebrew,  and  the 
New  Testament  to  a  professor  of  Greek,  pro- 
ceeded by  a  closed  ballot  to  designate  suitable 
persons  to  undertake  the  work.  They  ap- 
pointed three  translators  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  three  for  the  New  Testament  and 
Apocrypha,  with  as  many  substitutes  in  case 
any  of  them  should  be  unable  to  go  on  with 
the  work.  Besides  these  were  two  reviewers  or 
revisers  from  each  province,  to  whom  the  work 
of  the  revision  was  to  be  submitted  for  inspec- 

^Brandt,  Book  33,  50. 

193 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

tion  and  such  correction  as  seemed  necessary. 
After  both  bodies  had  considered  the  matter 
separately,  they  were  to  have  a  joint  session, 
and  there  determine  the  final  form  in  which 
the  translation  was  to  appear. 

At  the  head  of  all  was  Bogerman  himself. 
He  was  the  natural  successor  of  Marnix. 
Huet  says:  ''Marnix  and  Bogerman  were 
birds  of  a  feather.  Marnix  was  in  frequent 
correspondence  with  Sibrandus  Lubbertus, 
professor  at  Frankener,  who  was  Bogerman's 
chief  teacher.  Although  both  were  heresy- 
hunters,  still  both  possessed  the  genius  of 
piety.  The  prose  of  Marnix  was  a  model  for 
Bogerman,  and  not  for  Bogerman  only,  but 
for  all  his  co-laborers." 

All  the  translators  and  nearly  all  the  review- 
ers were  orthodox  theologians,  some  being 
pastors  taken  from  leading  pulpits,  others 
taken  from  the  different  universities.  All 
parts  of  the  Netherlands  were  represented,  so 
as  to  avoid  any  appearance  of  sectionalism. 
Whenever  necessary,  professors  of  history  and 
rectors  of  the  gymnasia  who  were  known  to  be 
proficient  in  any  department  were  freely  con- 
sulted.      Not    orthodoxy    alone,    but    sound 


194 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

learning,  were  considered  essential  qualifica- 
tions.* 

The  Synod  also  directed  the  different  com- 
panies to  meet  in  some  university  town,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  consult  the  professors  and  have 
access  to  books. 

It  was  thought  the  work  might  be  completed 
in  four  years,  but  it  was  nearly  ten  years  before 
the  translators  permanently  gathered  in  Ley- 
den  to  do  the  work  assigned  them,  although 
in  the  meantime  the  different  members  had 
done  much  preliminary  study,  and  another  ten 
years  before  the  work  was  ready  for  distribu- 
tion. While  engaged  in  their  work  in  Leyden 
a  fearful  pestilence  swept  over  the  city,  carry- 
ing away  20,000  people,  but  although  the 
place  where  the  translators  were  sitting  was 
near  a  cemetery  where  there  were  often  more 
than  one  hundred  interments  in  a  day,  after 
prayer  for  divine  direction  they  resolved  to 
continue  their  labors,  and  not  one  of  them 
was  attacked  by  the  plague. 

During  the  progress  of  the  work  several  of 
the  translators  died,  and  their  substitutes  took 
their  places.  In  1632  the  first  translation  was 
completed,    and    on    the    lOth    of    October, 

^Huet,  Het  Geloof,  i6. 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

1635,  the  finishing  touches  were  given  by  the 
combined  company  of  translators  and  super- 
visors. Two  years  more  were  consumed  in 
printing,  and  in  1637  a  folio  edition  was  issued 
from  the  presses  at  Leyden  and  The  Hague, 
and  an  octavo  from  Amsterdam. 

The  financial  part  of  this  great  work  was 
assumed  by  the  States-General.  They  gave 
^/  liberal  salaries  to  the  men,  who  were  also 
allowed  to  retain  their  income  as  professors  or 
pastors;  paid  the  expense  of  their  removal  to 
Leyden;  made  an  allowance  for  house  rent; 
gave  them  a  generous  sum  for  the  purchase 
of  such  books  as  might  be  necessary,  and 
made  them  a  donation  when  their  work  was 
finished. 

In  return,  the  States-General  stipulated  that 
the  translation  should  not  be  issued  by  the 
Church  alone,  nor  as  the  work  of  an  individual, 
but  should  also  have  their  approval.  Accord- 
ingly when  completed,  it  was  submitted  to 
them,  and  on  the  29th  of  July,  1637.,  they 
passed  a  resolution,  in  which,  after  giving 
their  approval  and  recommending  its  use,  they 
say:  **  In  this  translation  everything  is  collected 
which  the  truth  and  the  meaning  of  the  words 
and  their  sense  make  necessary,  and  therefore 
196 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

it  must  be  accepted  and  used  in  the  churches 
and  public  schools  of  the  Netherlands.'" 

At  the  same  time  it  was  resolved  that  the 
book  should  bear  the  name  "Staten-Bibel," 
and  to  this  day  every  such  Bible  has  on  its 
title-page  the  words — 

''DOOR   DE   HOOGMOGENDE   HEEREN  " 

When  first  issued  there  were  many  who 
opposed  its  use.  They  said  it  perverted  the 
truth,  and  would  unsettle  the  minds  of  the 
people.  In  Amsterdam,  especially,  this  antag- 
onism was  most  intense,  and  it  was  several 
years  before  its  use  became  general  in  the 
churches  of  the  different  provinces.^ 

But  it  was  a  great  day  for  Holland  when 
this  translation  appeared.  Hitherto  they  had 
only  the  imperfect  translations  made  from  the 
Vulgate  or  the  German,  against  which  Marnix 
had  uttered  such  a  severe  comment.  Fre- 
quent attempts  had  been  made  to  secure  some- 
thing better,  but  always  in  vain.  Ever  since 
the  Synod  of  Embden,  in  1571,  the  cry  had 
been  growing  louder  and  more  imperative  for 
a    more    faithful    rendering    of    the    original. 


^Looman.  i8g. 

«Ypij  en  Dermout,  II,  370. 


197 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Twenty  years  had  passed  since  the  memorable 
action  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  was  taken.  All 
the  energies  of  the  State,  and  all  the  wisdom 
and  the  piety  of  the  church  had  been  taxed  to 
meet  the  growing  demand  for  a  better  transla- 
tion. When  at  length  it  appeared,  there  was 
joy  through  all  the  Netherlands.  The  States- 
General  and  the  Synods  of  the  Church  gave  it 
their  heartiest  endorsement.  The  great  body 
of  Protestants  soon  accepted  it  as  their  stand- 
ard, and  appealed  to  it  in  all  their  discussions. 
Even  the  Remonstrants  and  the  Menonites, 
although  they  examined  the  work  with  lynx- 
eyed  determination  to  condemn  it,  could  not 
find  anything  of  which  to  complain.  In  those 
places  where  there  was  any  reference  to  free- 
will or  predestination,  foreseen  faith  or  condi- 
tional grace,  they  were  compelled  to  admit 
that  the  translation  was  such  as  the  original 
demanded,  and  they  decided  to  introduce  it 
among  their  churches. 

Occasionally,  indeed,  since  then  a  voice  has 
been  heard  suggesting  improvement.  In  the 
early  part  of  this  century  Van  der  Palm,  pro- 
fessor of  Oriental  languages  at  Leyden,  made 
a  new  translation  which  has  great  literary 
merit ;  and  a  few  years  ago  Kuenen  and 
19S 


The  HoUandish  Translation 

Hooykaas  issued  the  Old  Testament,  revised 
according  to  the  modern  school  of  criticism. 
But  neither  of  these  has  found  much  favor. 
In  1854  the  General  Synod  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  fourteen  to  revise  the  old  translation. 
Their  revision  of  the  New  Testament  was  pub- 
lished in  1867,  but  has  met  with  such  a  cold 
reception  that  only  the  New  Testament  has 
appeared.  Except  in  the  introduction  of  a 
more  modern  spelling  and  the  change  of  a  few 
obsolete  expressions  the  Staten-Bijbel  remains 
as  it  was  first  published  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  extreme  care  with 
which  the  text  of  this  translation  has  been 
guarded,  we  note  the  fact  that  when,  by  the 
fault  of  an  early  printer,  the  word  "grenzen," 
(borders)  dropped  out  of  Josh.,  13:2,  it  was 
only  after  a  discussion  of  sixteen  years,  and 
the  action  of  several  different  provincial 
Synods,  and  the  final  consent  of  the  States- 
General,  that  the  lost  word  was  restored  to 
the  text. 

When   the  work   of    translating    was  com- 
pleted, the  orginal  documents  of  the  revisers, 
with  the  annotated  proof-sheets,  were  placed 
in   a  box  and  secured  by  eight  locks.     This 
199 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

was  deposited  at  Leyden,  and  every  three 
years  a  committee,  composed  of  two  ministers 
from  each  provincial  Synod,  one  from  the 
Walloon  Synod,  two  delegates  from  the  States- 
General,  the  burgomaster  of  the  city,  with  his 
secretary,  and  the  regent  of  theology  in  the 
University  of  Leyden,  solemnly  opened  the 
box  and  exhibited  the  documents  one  by  one, 
to  show  they  were  all  there.  This  was  contin- 
ued until  the  revolution  of  1795  put  an  end  to 
the  custom/ 

That  the  Staten-Bijbel  deserves  such  confi- 
dence is  easily  seen  if  we  look  at  some  of  its 
renderings.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  many 
cases  it  approaches  more  nearly  to  our  revised 
English  version  than  to  the  old  or  authorized 
version. 

In  Ex.,  II  :2,  our  old  English  version  reads, 
**Let  every  man  borrow  of  his  neighbor." 
The  Staten-Bijbel  says,  "eischen"  (demand). 
In  Judges,  15:19,  our  old  version  says,  "God 
clave  a  hollow  place  that  was  in  the  jaw. '  *  The 
Staten-Bijbel  reads,  "Die  in  Lechi,"  making 
Lechi  a  proper  name,  as  it  is  correctly  given 
in  our  revised  version.  Ps.,  10:4,  in  our 
authorized  version   reads,    "God  is  not  in  all 

»Ypij  en  Dermout,  II,  379. 


The  Hollandish  Translation 

his  thoughts."  The  Staten-Bijbel  says,  "All 
zijne  gedachten  zijn,  dat  er  geen  God  is" 
(All  his  thoughts  are,  that  there  is  no  God), 
which  agrees  with  our  revised  version,  and  is 
much  more  poetical  and  vigorous  than  the  old 
rendering.  In  Isa.,  9:6,  among  the  titles 
spoken  of,  one  is,  in  our  old  version,  ''The 
Everlasting  Father."  The  Staten-Bijbel  ren- 
ders this,  "Vader  der  eeuwigheid,"  which  is 
in  harmony  with  the  best  modern  scholarship. 
In  John,  5  :35,  our  old  version  reads,  ''He  was 
a  burning  and  a  shining  light ;  and  ye  were  will- 
ing for  a  time  to  rejoice  in  his  light."  The 
Greek  text  has  Xb^^vos  (luchnos)  for  light  in  the 
first  place  here,  and  ipios  (phos)  in  the  second. 
The  Staten-Bijbel  recognizes  these  different 
Greek  words  by  using  "kaars"  (candle)  for  the 
first,  and  "licht"  for  the  second.  The  revised 
version  makes  the  distinction  by  using  the 
words  "lamp"  and  "light."  In  Phil.,  3  :20,  we 
read  in  our  authorized  version,  "Our  conversa- 
tion is  in  heaven."  The  Staten-Bijbel  says, 
"Onze  wandel"  (course  of  life).  In  Heb., 
2: 16,  our  old  version  says,  "He  took  not  on 
him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  he  took  on  him 
the  seed  of  Abraham."  The  Staten-Bijbel 
says,  "Hij  neemt  de  engelen  niet  aan,  maar 
201 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Hij  neemt  hat  zaad  Abrahams  aan."  (He 
took  not  hold  of  angels,  but  he  took  hold  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham.)  This  agrees  with  our  revised 
version,  and  accurately  expresses  the  Greek. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  Staten- 
Bijbel  is  much  less  given  to  the  insertion  of 
words  for  which  there  is  no  original,  and  in  so 
far  deserves  our  commendation. 

It  would  be  easy  to  reverse  this  comparison 
between  the  English  and  the  Staten-Bijbel,  and 
show  that  in  some  instances  the  English  is 
superior,  but  the  fact  that  the  Staten-Bijbel  in 
so  many  instances  agrees  with  our  revised  ver- 
sion, rather  than  with  the  old  version,  shows 
how  carefully  it  was  made. 

Such,  then,  is  the  origin  of  the  Book  which 
has  been  one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  in 
molding  the  national  character  of  the  Nether- 
lands. Its  influence  has  been  felt  everywhere, 
and  wherever  felt,  has  been  pure  and  inspiring. 
Like  the  similar  translation  in  Germany  and 
England,  it  has  had  more  to  do  in  forming  and 
elevating  the  language  than  any  other  book. 
It  was  made  at  a  time  when  thought  was 
breaking  loose  from  its  old  trammels  and 
piercing  out  into  new  and  unknown  regions. 
The  old  forms  could  no  longer  hold  the  young 


The  Hollandlsh  Translation 

giant.  The  language  was  as  plastic  as  the 
thought  of  the  time,  and  the  translators  seized 
upon  the  better  elements  and  fixed  them  for- 
ever as  the  standard  of  pure  and  strong 
thought.  Buskin  Huet  says  that  while  there 
are  some  defects,  yet  in  the  more  prominent 
parts  the  language  of  the  translation  is  excelled 
by  no  one  down  to  this  present  day.  In  an- 
other place  he  says  that  the  Staten-Bijbel  is 
one  of  the  good  chapters  in  the  national  life 
of  the  Netherlanders  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  is  moreover  the  best  and  most  endur- 
ing fruit  coming  from  the  orthodox  during 
that  period.  Wynne,  in  his  ''Fatherland's 
History,"  says,  "Upon  the  later  language  the 
Staten-Bijbel  has  exerted  an  incalculable  influ- 
ence."  Potgieter,  in  1839,  says,  "It  is  the 
most  manly  Dutch  that  ever  was  written." 
Again  I  quote  from  Huet,^  who  can  usually 
find  enough  to  complain  of  when  examining 
the  work  of  the  Church,  who  says,  "Neither 
Hooft,  nor  Huygens,  nor  Vondel,  nor  even 
the  popular  Cats,  was  in  any  such  degree  the 
style-masters  of  the  Netherland  people  as  the 
translators  of  the  Staten-Bijbel.  It  can  be 
said  that  from   this  Book  the  great  multitude 

»Vol.  II,  92. 

203 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

of  the  Hollanders  for  the  first  time  learned 
their  Dutch  as  distinct  from  the  mediaeval 
Netherlandish,  and  I  have  simply  to  remind 
you  of  the  native  poetry  of  De  Costa  to  show 
that  for  the  expression  of  a  certain  kind  of 
poetical  thoughts  the  language  of  the  Staten- 
Bijbel  continues  to  be  one  of  the  most 
intensely  national  vehicles  which  has  ever 
existed  in  the  Netherlands."  And  this  is  the 
uniform  testimony. 

What  that  translation  has  done  for  the 
Church  and  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Netherlands 
no  man  can  tell.  Could  we  know  how  many 
volumes  of  it  have  been  issued,  could  we 
measure  the  joy  it  has  brought  to  those  in 
trouble,  the  strength  its  simple  but  majestic 
words  have  given  to  those  passing  through 
great  trials,  how  many  wandering  ones  have 
been  by  it  led  to  forsake  their  sins  and  return 
to  their  heavenly  Father's  house,  then  indeed 
we  might  say  how  much  that  book  has  been 
worth  to  the  Netherlands.  Until  then  we 
may  well  thank  God  that  he  has  given  such  a 
treasure  to  his  people,  so  that  in  all  their  spir- 
itual needs  they  never  fail  to  find  that  truth 
which  is  essential  to  their  salvation. 
204 


The  French  Translations 


The  French  Translations 

In  writing  a  sketch  of  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  French  language  two  obstacles 
are  at  once  encountered.  There  is  almost  no 
literature  available  from  which  we  can  trace 
the  progress  of  the  work,  and  there  is  no 
existing  French  translation  which  stands  out 
with  such  commanding  importance  as  to  be- 
come a  standard  with  which  all  others  may  be 
compared.  One  might  almost  ascribe  the 
failure  of  Protestantism  in  France  to  keep  pace 
with  Protestantism  in  Germany,  Holland,  and 
England  to  this  one  fact,  that  at  no  time  has 
the  Bible  been  to  the  French  what  it  has  been 
to  the  other  nations.  Too  often  the  apparent 
aim  of  the  translator  has  been  to  establish  his 
own  convictions  and  decry  the  positions  of  his 
opponent,  until  the  one  supreme  object  in 
translating  —  the  impartial  setting  forth  of 
Scripture  truth — has  been  forgotten.  Hence 
it  has  come  to  pass  that  we  find  two  distinct 
lines  of  translation,  the  Protestant  and  the 
207 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Roman  Catholic,  and  the  numerous  French 
translations  now  circulating  will,  by  a  very 
casual  examination,  reveal  the  religious  con- 
victions of  the  persons  from  whom  they  have 
issued.  But  a  study  of  the  efforts  which  have 
been  made  brings  out  many  facts  of  great 
interest. 

The  movement  for  a  popular  French  trans- 
lation may  be  traced  to  the  Catharai  (Albi- 
genses)  of  Southern  France,  who  had  a  literal 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  as  early  as 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  takes 
more  definite  form  among  the  followers  of 
Peter  Waldo,  or  Waldes,  who  died  about 
1 179.  The  story  is  that  Waldo,  a  rich  mer- 
chant of  Lyons,  having  become  acquainted 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  deter- 
mined to  make  a  translation  of  them,  or  more 
likely  paid  others  for  making  one  for  him, 
that  they  might  be  circulated  among  his  peo- 
ple. Just  how  much  of  the  Bible  was  thus 
translated,  or  whether  his  work  was  anything 
more  than  an  adaptation  of  what  had  been 
done  among  the  Catharai  to  meet  the  needs  of 
his  own  people,  cannot  now  be  determined. 
One  authority  says  the  writings  of  the  proph- 
ets and  apostles  were  thus  translated.  An- 
208 


The  French  Translations 

other  says  the  work  included  also  the  Psalms 
and  "Both  Laws" — i.  e.,  the  Mosaic  law  and 
the  Gospel.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the 
work  grew  as  the  people  demanded  it.  As 
the  art  of  printing  was  not  yet  discovered,  the 
number  of  copies  was  quite  limited,  but  good 
use  was  made  of  what  they  had.  The  people 
eagerly  read  them  and  committed  them  to 
memory,  some  being  able  to  repeat  entire 
books  of  the  Bible.  Those  who  were  prepar- 
ing for  the  ministry  were  required  to  commit 
to  memory  "All  the  chapters  of  Matthew  and 
John,  all  the  Canonical  Epistles,  and  a  good 
part  of  the  writings  of  Solomon,  David,  and 
the  prophets."^ 

About  I  I/O  Peter  Comester  prepared  a  work 
which  was  destined  to  have  great  influence. 
It  was  called  "HistoricaScholastica."  It  was 
written  in  Latin,  and  contained  the  leading 
historical  facts  of  both  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testaments,  the  Apocrypha,  selections  from 
Josephus,  and  even  from  heathen  authors. 
The  more  didactic  and  poetical  portions  of 
the  Scripture  were  omitted.  This  soon  be- 
came very  popular.  In  129 1- 1294  Guiars  des 
Moulins,  canon   of   St.  Peter,  in  Ayre,   trans- 

^Reuss,  II,  483.    Griesseler,  II,  549. 
209 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

lated  this  work  of  Comester  into  French,  but 
conforming  the  text  more  fully  to  that  of  the 
Vulgate,  and  adding  some  portions  of  the 
Scriptures  which  had  been  omitted  by  Comes- 
ter. Later  writers  made  still  further  improve- 
ments, and  added  other  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  was  first  printed,  in  two  great  folios, 
for  Charles  VIII,  about  1487,  and  went 
through  many  editions  afterward,  the  chief 
among  them  being  edited  by  the  King's  con- 
fessor, de  Rely,  Bishop  of  Angers.  At  least 
twelve  editions  of  this  work  were  published, 
mostly  at  Paris,  the  last  in  1545. 

Much  interest  centers  in  this  work.  Its  im- 
portance as  an  educator  was  very  great. 
While  at  first  it  contained  little  more  than  an 
imperfect  statement  of  the  historical  parts  of 
the  Scriptures,  it  was  in  the  later  editions 
gradually  conformed  to  the  text  of  the  Vul- 
gate, and  thus  brought  to  the  people  the  truth 
in  purer  form.  When  first  issued  it  obtained 
a  great  circulation,  but  as  better  work  was 
done  it  gradually  disappeared  until  copies  of  it 
are  now  very  rare.^ 

During  this  period  separate  books  of  the 
Bible   were    translated   by    different    authors. 

^Townley,  I,  299,  516. 

?I0 


The  French  Translatians 

In  1523  Simon  de  Colines  translated  the  entire 
New  Testament.  In  1525  he  followed  this  by 
the  Psalter,  and  in  1528  he  finished  the  Old 
Testament.  It  was  printed  at  Antwerp  by- 
Martin  Lempereur.  Like  most  efforts  of  the 
kind,  it  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  authorities,  and  finally  proscribed. 

A  great  advance  in  the  work  of  furnishing  a 
French  translation  is  seen  when  we  come  to 
the  work  of  Jacques  le  Fevre  de  Etaples,  or  as 
he  is  more  generally  known,  Jacob  Faber 
Stapulensis,  professor  of  belles-lettres  and 
philosophy  in  the  Sorbonne,  Paris.  He  was 
acquainted  with  the  work  of  Luther,  and  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Reformation  in 
France.  Feeling  the  need  of  a  better  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  for  his  countrymen,  in 
1523-1525,  almost  simultaneously  with  Lu- 
ther's New  Testament  in  Germany,  he  issued 
the  New  Testament  in  three  parts,  at  Paris. 
In  1530  he  published  the  entire  Bible,  in  folio, 
at  Antwerp.  When  the  New  Testament  was 
issued  he  was  expelled  from  his  professorship 
and  compelled  to  flee  from  France.  An  edict 
was  issued  in  1546  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
authorities  against  him  and  his  work,  in  which 
the  following  statement  is  found:  '*It  is 
211 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

neither  expedient  nor  useful  for  the  Christian 
public  that  any  translation  of  the  Bible  should 
be  permitted  to  be  printed;  but  that  they 
ought  to  be  suppressed  as  injurious."  It  was 
also  ordered  that  any  person  possessing  a  copy 
of  it  should  deliver  it  up  within  eight  days. 

Le  Fevre's  work  was  based  on  the  Vulgate, 
and  aimed  for  the  first  time  in  French  transla- 
tion to  give  a  faithful  rendering  of  that  text. 
It  was  not  destined  in  itself  to  become  the 
popular  Bible  of  the  French  people,  but  it 
prepared  the  way  for  such  a  boon.  So  bitter 
was  the  feeling  of  the  Roman  CathoHc  Church 
against  the  idea  of  Bible  translation  that  Le- 
Fevre  did  not  put  his  name  to  the  first  edition 
of  his  New  Testament,  and  so  little  did  it 
satisfy  the  Protestants  that  they  never  ofificially 
recognized  it.  Its  very  publication  was  carried 
on  chiefly  outside  of  France. 

The  great  value  of  his  work  consisted  not  so 
much  in  its  intrinsic  merits  as  in  the  fact  that, 
like  Wycliffe,  he  was  a  pioneer,  preparing  the 
way  for  the  more  acceptable  efforts  of  later 
translators.  His  work  became  the  pattern 
which  both  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics 
have  followed.^ 

*Reuss,  II,  492. 

312 


The  French  Translations 

Le  Fevre's  work  was  revised  in  1550  by  the 
Theological  Faculty  at  Louvain,  so  as  to  render 
it  more  acceptable  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  for  a  century  afterward  was  used 
by  them  in  their  efforts  to  displace  the  Prot- 
estant versions  which  were  eagerly  read  by  the 
Catholics. 

In  1608  it  was  again  revised  by  Pierre  de 
Besse,  and  again  in  162 1  by  Pierre  de  Frizon, 
who  took  the  precaution  to  put  in  it  directions 
for  distinguishing  Catholic  French  Bibles  from 
those  of  the  Huguenots  or  Protestants.^ 

The  rapid  changes  in  the  character  of  the 
French  language  finally  put  an  end  to  its  use- 
fulness and  called  for  new  efforts  on  the  part 
of  both  Protestants  and  Catholics.  Leaving 
for  the  present  the  work  among  the  Protes- 
tants, we  trace  the  record  made  by  the  Cath- 
olics. 

More  than  a  century  passed,  during  which 
there  were  many  attempts,  like  that  of  Rene 
Benoist,  in  1556,  all  of  which,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  ended  In  failure,  before  we  come  to 
the  great  work  of  the  brothers  Antolne  and 
Louis  Isaac  le  Maitre  de  Sacy,  who  made  a 
new  translation  of  the  entire  Bible.     Antoine 

*Herzog,  Real-Encyc,  Vol.  13,99. 
213 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

is  generally  regarded  as  the  translator  of  the 
New  Testament  and  his  brother  of  the  Old, 
although  the  precise  division  of  labor  between 
them  is  not  well  known.  The  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  made  while  the  author 
was  in  the  Bastile,  from  which  he  was  liberated 
on  the  day  of  its  publication.^  The  New  Tes- 
tament was  first  published  in  1667  at  Mons 
(Amsterdam),  and  the  Old  Testament  in  1668. 
It  was  accompanied  with  numerous  notes. 
This  translation,  like  all  having  the  approval 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  was  made 
from  the  Vulgate.  It  has  been  frequently 
republished,  with  and  without  notes,  and  often 
with  changes  in  the  text,  and  is  still  the  most 
common  version  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
although  not  used  in  the  liturgical  services  of 
the  church.^  Up  to  a  very  recent  period  it 
was  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  translation 
in  the  French  language.  An  edition  of  it  has 
been  issued  by  the  English  Society  for  pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge  and  by  the  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign  Bible  Society  for  general 
circulation  among  French-speaking  people.^ 
The  relation  of  this  translation  to  the  Roman 

^Townley,  II,  471. 
'Weiss,  II,  508,  520. 
'Cust,  79. 

214 


The   French  Translations 

Catholic  Church  is  worth  noticing.  At  its  first 
publication  it  had  the  approval  of  the  Bishop 
of  Cambray  and  the  King  of  Spain,  but  was 
soon  after  condemned  by  Pope  Clement  IX, 
and  a  little  later  by  Innocent  XI  and  the 
French  King,  because  it  was  ''Too  favorable  to 
the  Protestants,  confirming  in  many  places  the 
immoralities  of  the  heretics. '  '^  At  the  present 
time  the  Roman  clergy  tolerate  its  circulation. 
In  1877  another  attempt  was  made  to  pro- 
vide a  French  translation  which  would  be 
acceptable  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
The  Bishops  of  France,  admitting  that  noth- 
ing could  stop  the  popular  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  lamenting  that  so  many  Roman  Catholics 
read  the  Protestant  versions  and  thus  acquired 
a  disregard  for  the  ancient  dogmas,  besought 
the  Pope  to  authorize  an  effort  to  secure  a 
translation  which  would  justify  their  endorse- 
ment. The  Pope,  after  waiting  two  and  a 
half  years,  gave  a  carefully  guarded  assent, 
whereupon  the  Abbe  Glaire,  formerly  dean  of 
the  Theological  Faculty  of  Paris,  published  a 
new  version,  which  has  secured  the  approval 
of  the  clergy.  The  Abbe  tells  us  that  he  spent 
forty   years  in   study  before  he  undertook  to 

»Townley,  II,  470. 

215 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

publish  his  work,  his  first  thought  being  simply 
to  prepare  a  revision  of  de  Sacy's  version. 
This  idea  he  abandoned  because  he  wished  to 
make  greater  use  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
than  that  would  allow.  He  further  says  that 
he  has  made  a  special  effort  to  preserve  the 
admirable  simplicity  of  the  original,  taking 
Jerome  as  his  model  in  this  respect.  It  is 
accompanied  with  the  usual  notes,  without 
which  no  Bible  is  allowed  to  circulate  with  the 
approval  of  the  Roman  Church.  This  trans- 
lation is  one  of  the  best  yet  issued  under 
Roman  Catholic  authority,  and  is  in  the  main 
a  faithful  rendering  of  the  Vulgate  text.  It 
is  at  least  much  better  than  we  might  expect 
when  we  remember  that  one  of  the  leading 
reasons  for  its  existence  is  to  counteract  the 
influence  of  the  Protestant  versions.^ 

We  can  refer  to  but  one  other  effort  begun 
with  the  approval  of  the  Roman  clergy  and 
the  Pope.  In  1886  Henri  Lasserre  published  a 
French  translation  which  states  on  the  title- 
page  that  it  is  issued  ''Avec  1' Imprimatur  de 
I'Archeveche  de  Paris,"  and  which  was  dedi- 
cated to  ''Notre  Dame  de  Loudres. "  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  translation  portions  of 

^Cust,  81. 

216 


The  French  Translations 

it  sent  to  the  Pope  for  his  inspection  were 
acknowledged  with  approval,  and  his  apostolic 
blessing  bestowed  upon  the  translator.  Las- 
serre  used  the  Vulgate  text  as  the  basis  of  his 
work.  He  tells  us  that  he  does  not  translate 
servilely,  nor  yet  give  a  paraphrase,  but  puts 
it  into  such  form  that  the  genius  of  the  French 
language  should  take  the  place  of  the  Latin 
language,  instead  of  being  in  that  chopped, 
hoppy,  rebus-like  style  which  characterizes 
existing  French  translations,  so  that  he  may 
make  the  Gospel  a  book  which  any  one  can 
read,  understand,  and  admire.  He  discards 
the  verse  divisions,  and  prints  in  paragraphs. 
His  notes  are  brief,  and  the  translation  good, 
although  presenting  some  strange  readings. 

It  was  received  with  great  popular  approval, 
and  twenty-five  editions  of  it  were  soon  ex- 
hausted. But  it  was  suddenly  withdrawn. 
The  approval  of  the  Archbishop  was  given 
November  ii,  1886,  and  on  the  19th  of  De- 
cember, 1887,  a  few  days  over  one  year,  it 
encountered  the  fate  which  is  saddest  of  all  for 
a  Roman  Catholic  publication.  It  was  placed 
in  the  Index  Expurgatorius,  and  all  good 
Catholics  were  forbidden  to  read  it.^ 

»Cust,  83. 

217 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

We  now  turn  to  review  the  work  done  by 
the  French  Protestants. 

The  translation  made  by  Le  Fevre  (1523- 
1530)  was  a  great  improvement  on  all  previous 
efforts,  but  did  not  satisfy  those  who  favored 
the  more  advanced  ideas  taught  by  the  reform- 
ers. 

This  lack  was  in  a  manner  supplied  when, 
in  1535,  Pierre  Robert  Olivetan,  or  Olivetau, 
sent  forth  a  translation  embodying  the  new 
ideas.  Olivetan  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Reformation  in  France,  and  is  said  to  have  led 
Calvin  to  the  study  and  acceptance  of  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation.  He  was  a 
native  of  Picardy,  in  France,  but  prepared  and 
published  the  first  edition  of  his  work  in 
Neuchatel,  Switzerland,  on  account  of  the 
opposition  of  his  countrymen.  This  first  edi- 
tion, in  two  folio  volumes,  seems  to  have  been 
intended  for  use  among  the  Waldenses,  for 
they  furnished  the  fifteen  hundred  crowns  in 
gold  required  for  printing  it. 

While  Olivetan  worked  independently,  he 
made  much  use  of  Le  Fevre's  translation. 
His  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  was  not 
very  critical,  but  his  lack  in  this  direction  was 
amply  compensated  for  by  the  assistance  of 
218 


The  French  Translations 

his  relative,  John  Calvin,  who  revised  the  work 
before  it  was  published.  Some  have  even 
tried  to  prove  that  Calvin  was  the  real  trans- 
lator, but  there  seems  no  good  reason  for  such 
a  conclusion. 

A  second  edition,  published  at  Geneva,  is 
known  as  the  Sword  Bible  (Bible  de  I'Epee), 
because  it  has  a  sword  on  the  title-page.^  In 
an  edition  published  at  Lyons  in  1545  the 
revision  of  Calvin  is  expressly  stated.  An- 
other edition  in  155 1  contains  still  further 
improvements  by  Calvin,  and  Beza  translates 
for  it  the  Apocryphal  books. 

Reuss  presents  the  general  character  of  this 
work  of  Olivetan  as  follows:  ''The  Apoc- 
rypha repeats  the  Antwerp  Polyglot;  in  the 
New  Testament  it  is  dependent  upon  Eras- 
mus, and  only  in  the  Old  Testament  is  it  pre- 
pared from  the  original  text  with  really 
praiseworthy  diligence  and  independent  schol- 
arship."^ 

The  first  thorough  revision  of  this  transla- 
tion was  made  in  1588  by  the  ''Venerable 
Compagnie"  of  Geneva,  an  association  of  lead- 
ing reformers,  among  whom  were   Beza  and 


^Townley,  II,  126, 

«n,  493. 


219 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Calvin.  They  carefully  compared  the  transla- 
tion with  the  orginal  Hebrew  and  Greek,  but 
left  its  essential  features  unchanged.  In  this 
form  it  was  published  in  many  editions,  and, 
amid  the  fierce  persecutions  which  followed,  it 
became  the  word  of  consolation  to  many  a 
faithful  soul  in  prison  and  amid  the  flames. 
Its  hold  upon  the  Protestant  churches  was  so 
strong  that  it  could  not  be  superseded,  although 
many  new  translations  were  offered.  It  was 
frequently  modified  to  make  it  conform  more 
closely  to  the  genius  of  the  French  language, 
or  to  adapt  it  to  the  theological  views  of  its 
editors,  but,  without  material  change,  it  may 
still  be  recognized  in  the  various  editions  pub- 
lished by  the  great  Bible  Societies  of  Europe 
and  America.  Its  numerous  revisions  show 
its  defects,  while  the  fact  that  no  other  has 
been  able  to  take  its  place  shows  its  essential 
value. ^ 

Of  Olivetan's  work  Weiss  says:^  ''Seldom 
printed  in  France,  oftener  in  foreign  lands, 
this  Bible,  not  so  much  like  a  child  neglected 
at  the  birth  as  like  one  more  and  more  cor- 
rupted in  the  bringing  up,  has  bequeathed  to 

^Townley,  II,  242,  473. 
''II,  493. 


The  French  Translations 

succeeding  generations  the  sense  of  its  defects 
and  the  endless  task  of  correcting  them ;  it 
has  become  the  only  church  edition,  yet  the 
church  has  never  been  able  to  bring  its  text 
into  a  fixed  state;  and  in  its  numberless  trans- 
formations and  improvements  it  has  always 
lagged  behind  the  language  and  behind  sci- 
ence." 

The  first  important  attempt  to  revise  Oli- 
vetan's  translation,  after  the  edition  of  the 
Geneva  pastors,  was  made  by  David  Martin,  a 
native  of  Languedoc.  He  was  prominent  as 
a  theologian,  and  had  a  critical  knowledge  of 
the  French  language.  After  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  he  became  pastor  of 
the  Walloon  Church  at  Utrecht,  in  Holland, 
where  he  was  held  in  very  high  esteem  by  his 
Dutch  colleagues.  Even  the  Roman  Catholics 
had  such  great  respect  for  his  Christian  char- 
acter that  they  assisted  him  to  escape  when 
compelled  to  flee  from  France.  His  aim  in 
revision  was  chiefly  literary,  removing  obsolete 
and  objectionable  words  and  idioms,  and 
replacing  them  with  those  in  common  use. 
With  the  approval  of  the  Synod  of  Belgium, 
he  published  the  New  Testament  in  1696  at 
Antwerp,  and  the  entire  Bible  in  1707  at 
331 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

Amsterdam.  Various  notes  accompanied  the 
first  edition,  many  of  those  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment being  afterward  used  in  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic version  published  at  Brussels  in  1700. 

This  revision  of  Martin  was  a  great  improve- 
ment on  the  work  of  Olivetan,  and  had  a  very 
extensive  circulation.  With  various  amend- 
ments, chiefly  in  1842- 1850,  it  is  still  pub- 
lished by  the  great  Bible  Societies  and  by  the 
EngHsh  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.  The  Paris  Bible  Society,  which 
formerly  printed  it,  does  not  now  do  so.' 

Half  a  century  later,  in  1744,  Jean  Frederic 
Osterwald  produced  another  revision  of  Oli- 
vetan *s  work,  which  was  much  more  radical  in 
its  nature  than  that  of  Martin.  He  was  born 
in  Neuchatel,  Switzerland,  then  one  of  the 
great  centers  of  French  Protestant  influence, 
and  studied  under  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
theologians  of  the  day.  In  connection  with 
his  associates,  Winnfels  and  Turretin,  he  rose 
to  great  influence.  He  felt  the  need  of  a  more 
practical  piety,  which  should  occupy  itself  less 
with  forms  of  orthodoxy,  and  manifest  more 
of  that  holy  living  required  of  the  Christian. 
He  deplored   the  divisions  among  Christians, 

^Reuss,  II,  520. 

222 


The  French  Translations 

and  wrote  several  books  to  arouse  them  to  the 
performance  of  duty. 

His  revision  embodied  the  ideas  which  he 
everywhere  advocated.  Antiquated  words 
were  exchanged  for  more  modern  ones,  and  the 
effort  was  made  to  bring  the  translation  into 
more  complete  harmony  with  the  language  and 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  times.  Osterwald's 
work  was  again  revised  by  the  Bible  Societies 
in  1868,  and  in  1887  it  was  still  more  thor- 
oughly revised  by  M.  Froissard  and  other 
French  pastors,  and  published  by  the  French 
Bible  Society.^ 

Although  this  work  of  Osterwald  has  never 
had  the  formal  approval  of  the  Protestants,  it 
may  be  regarded  as  the  standard  among  them, 
being  more  generally  used  than  any  other. 
With  all  its  defects,  and  they  are  many  and 
easily  recognized,  it  has  continued  to  have  an 
extensive  circulation  wherever  the  French 
language  is  used. 

Many  recent  attempts  have  been  made  to 
overcome  its  obvious  defects,  but  none  of  them 
have  been  of  sufficient  character  to  command 
the  confidence  of  the  different  sections  of  the 
French  church.      And   in  the  present  divided 

^Encyc.  Missions,  I,  380. 

223 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

condition  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  France 
it  is  perhaps  too  much  to  expect  such  a  result 
may  soon  be  reached.  As  it  is,  Martin's  revi- 
sion has  been  generally  used  in  Switzerland 
and  Holland,  while  that  of  Osterwald  has  been 
preferred  in  France.  A  movement  which  took 
shape  in  1886  seems  more  hopeful  than  any- 
thing yet  done.  A  committee  composed  of 
Reformed,  Lutherans,  Walloons,  State  and 
Free  Church  adherents,  French,  Swiss,  Hol- 
landers, and  Belgians,  is  trying  to  agree  upon 
such  a  revision  of  Osterwald  as  will  make  it 
in  reality  the  Bible  of  the  French  Protestants. 
For  the  sake  of  the  reformed  churches  speak- 
ing the  French  language  it  is  devoutly  to  be 
hoped  that  they  may  at  last  succeed.^ 

Only  one  other  effort  demands  our  attention. 
In  1873  Louis  Segond,  professor  at  Lausanne, 
Switzerland,  published  an  entirely  new  French 
version,  which  marks  an  epoch  in  French 
translations.  He  translated  directly  from  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  instead  of  resting  on  the 
Vulgate.  He  gives  as  rules  by  which  he  is 
governed,  exactness,  clearness,  and  accuracy, 
while  he  aims  to  express  the  ideas  in  good 
literary  style,  and  with  a  religious  turn  of  ex- 

*Bib.  Soc.  Record,  July,  1894.  105. 
224 


The  French  Translations 

pression.  It  is  philological  rather  than  theo- 
logical. As  a  result,  it  frequently  clashes  with 
the  older  translations,  both  Protestant  and 
Catholic.  It  has  not  found  an  official  recog- 
nition anywhere,  but  meets  a  ready  acceptance 
among  those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
older  efforts.  The  younger  clergy  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  many  prominent 
Protestant  pastors  make  use  of  it.  The  Uni- 
versity Press  at  Oxford,  England,  has  printed 
an  elegant  edition,  the  prose  portions  in  para- 
graphs, the  poetical  in  verse.  The  author 
accompanied  the  text  with  notes,  maps,  pref- 
aces, thus  giving  it  all  the  advantages  of  mod- 
ern study.  Its  most  serious  defect  is  that 
under  a  professed  independence  of  theological 
terms,  it  often  reveals  an  evident  dislike  of  old 
doctrines  and  a  determination  to  weaken  them 
by  translations  needlessly  offensive  to  the 
reader.^ 

It  is  not  necessary  to  examine  other  efforts 
among  the  French  translators  in  order  to  see 
that  there  is  a  painful  lack  of  uniformity,  not 
merely  in  details,  but  in  the  broad,  funda- 
mental qualities  which  will  always  mark  work 
well   done.      The   French   mind   does    not    as 

*Rice,  40. 

225 


The  Bible  Among  the  Nations 

yet  seem  to  have  so  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
the  original  as  to  make  a  translation  which 
will  commend  itself  to  what  we  might  call  the 
common  instincts  of  the  Christian  heart.  And 
this  must  be  admitted,  in  principle,  if  not  to 
the  same  extent,  of  the  Protestant  versions,  as 
well  as  of  those  issuing  from  the  Roman 
CathoHc  Church.  None  of  them  is  large 
enough  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  They  have  been  made  for  a  pur- 
pose, and  that  purpose  has  been  to  establish  a 
position,  rather  than  to  illuminate  the  Word 
of  God.  Of  them  all,  it  may  be  said  that  they 
have  been  dominated  by  the  intellect  rather 
than  by  the  heart,  and  hence  do  not  properly 
fill  that  high  office  for  which  the  Bible  was 
given.  When  God  shall  give  to  France  such 
a  translation  as  He  has  given  to  Germany, 
England,  and  Holland,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
efforts  thus  far  made  have  been  but  stepping- 
stones  to  the  desired  result,  and  then  may  we 
hope  to  see  the  Protestant  Church  in  that  land, 
healed  of  her  dissensions,  rejoice  in  a  new 
spiritual  vigor,  and  become  a  mighty  factor  in 
the  spiritual  regeneration  of  her  people. 


226 


PRINTED  BY  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 
AND  SONS  COMPANY  AT  THE 
LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Date  Due 


41  u^  '*^ 


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